One of my readers sent me this link today – a long PDF chronicling the days of John Roche (and Bobby Cremins!) at USC. It’s mighty lengthy – I’ve only skimmed it so far – but it’s a pretty fascinating. For those of us who came along after South Carolina had already left the ACC, it’s very easy to forget that part of the conference’s history. But in the 70s, USC was every bit a power in the league, along with UNC, NC State and Maryland (Duke’s rise came later).
One obvious conclusion after looking at this – USC’s decision to leave the ACC was disastrous for them. One of the worst decisions ever made by a major program.