NCDS: Bob Cantu, Assoc. Head Coach - USC

We ended the regular season winning seven of our last 10 games. Our first game was against Cal in Pac-10 Tournament. We played well and were able to advance to the semifinals.

We were now playing Arizona with an NCAA tournament birth on the line. At 3 pm the day of the game I was informed by Athletic Director Pat Haden that I would be coaching the team as head coach Kevin O'Neill was given a 1 game suspension for an altercation with an Arizona fan at the hotel.

I met with the team and staff and tried to prepare for the Wildcats. With only 2.5 hours to prepare we went over to Staples and played a great game. We lost by five, but had our chances to win.

It was a great experience to serve as head coach at USC and the players played extremely hard. Without knowing if we had earned a Tournament birth we all waited patiently until Selection Sunday. I made my best pitch to the media on why I believed we should be in and was hopeful.

On Selection Sunday we all met in the team lounge and when we heard our name and saw it on the screen everybody was ecstatic. It was a huge accomplishment for a team that had lost so many players and was just one year removed from NCAA sanctions.

We played VCU in Dayton and ran into a great team that was extremely underrated as we have all witnessed.

All in all we ended 19-15 with an NCAA tourney birth. The future is bright and we hope to compete for the Pac-10 title next year. I personally feel very fortunate to have been to 5 NCAA Tournaments in 10 years at USC. Its now time to hit the road recruiting and prepare for next season....... Fight on!

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