Renardo Sidney bailing on USC?

[Russ Smith]

That's the rumor at least. Dave Telep on SCout is reporting that Sidney is visiting Miss St this weekend and may rescind his verbal to USC. I mentioned before he was rumored to be marketing himself at the McD's game to other coaches because Floyd visited UA.

Last week sources close to Sidney said he "got a passing score on the SAT" and would be signing with USC soon. He never signed an LOI and of course there is no such thing as a passing score on the SAT you need a qualifying score plus the core classes. the rumor is Sidney is way short on core classes and is doing the Derozan route taking BYU online courses now. USC helped him get that going and now it appears he may bail on them. I don't think he will qualify anyways you just heard too much stuff about what an indifferent student he was in HS, I think the NCAA will really check thoroughly before they clear hm.

 

[overseascardfan]

He might as well go the Brandon Jennings/Jeremy Tyler route. I would imagine his dad would be working the phones with Vaccaro trying to land a Euro contract.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

This is probably best for USC and Sidney.

 

[Russ Smith]

This is probably best for USC and Sidney.

If it happens it's a godsend for USC. now they don't have to add a Sidney file to their Bush and Mayo files for the NCAA to look at.

I actually think you can make an argument that going to Europe would be the best move for Sidney, Stephenson and Tyler because they all have too many hanger ons around them, going overseas would probably shed some of that.

 

[HooverDam]

Going back to Mississippi to be closer to his cache of security blankets.

 

[Russ Smith]

Andy Katz on ESPN reported yesterday that USC has officially stopped recruiting Sidney and the order came from USC administration, not the athletic department. So that means someone at USC found something that bothered them enough they rescinded the offer to Sidney who had not signed. Sidney's people claim he got a qualifying SAT score first try but USC has dropped him.

A quick check on USChoops reveals a bunch of rumors many humorous in their spin. Best one seems to be that they were willing to let them gamble on Sidney when USC looked really good on paper but once Gibson filed for the draft saying he was likely gone, that meant they were losing Gibson, hackett and derozan to the NBA, Wilkinson to graduation, Smith to transfer, Diarra overseas, Hill to Arizona, and Marcus Johnson may not get his extra injury redshirt year and if he does not he's out of eligibility. So they basically return Lewis, Stepheson, Washington, Lil Romeo, Simmons, and they bring in recruits Noel Johnson, Derrick Williams(underrated kid) and Mo Mo jones, they probably bring in lightly regarded Evan Smith nobody is sure.

Very good recruiting class but I think they just realized even with Sidney we're not a contender so why take the risk?

Among other rumors is USC asked Sidney to wait while they investigated his amateur status, they found something and dropped him. Sidney was pissed that Hill left. Hill left because USC was making Sidney wait. All the people that were defending USC taking Sidney as brilliant are now saying clearly something was fishy and USC did the right thing.

 

[HooverDam]

Wait, wait, is there a chance Little Romeo may get some playing time next year?

 

[Russ Smith]

Wait, wait, is there a chance Little Romeo may get some playing time next year?

No I was just naming the returning guys. Mike Gerrity transferred to USC from Pepperdine last year, he becomes eligible in mid December. So the assumption is that Mo Mo Jones is the PG and Gerrity the backup when he gets eligible. So I suppose it's possible that Romeo would get some minutes before Gerrity is eligible but who knows.


Right now a guess at their starting lineup for next year is:

C Alex Stepheson
PF Leonard Washington
SF Dwight Lewis
SG Noel Johnson
PG Mo Mo Jones

Key backups would be Derrick Williams(who will push to start he's undersized but also very underrated he's about 6'7" and plays more like a 4 than a 3), Marcus Simmons(also could challenge to start he's their best defender).

Beyond that it's a crapshoot, Evan Smith maybe(hasn't signed yet), it's completely unclear who else will be there, maybe Marcus Johnson if he gets the medical redshirt. they had a C who left the team last year for personal reasons, he could be back(blanking on the name). They lost Kasey cunningham to another knee injury he could be back next year.

The irony is Stepheson chose USC over UCLA and ASU in large part for 2 reasons. One, USC led him to believe he had a good chance of not having to sit out the year because he'd get a waiver. UCLA and ASU were reportedly more honest and told him they didn't expect he'd get the waiver granted. The other reason was USC reportedly promised him he could play the 4, he wouldn't have to play C. That was based on having Taj Gibson and Diarra to play the 5. Gibson says he's not coming back, Diarra is going to play overseas, so guess where Alex will be playing.... C.

Edit, I forgot Nikola Vucevic who I like quite a bit, I think he's one of the more intriguing prospects in the pac 10 because he's only going to be 18 as a soph. Reminds me a bit of Biedrins, but a better shooter and not as athletic. Very long arms, seems to have an uncanny knack for offensive boards.