Daniel Hackett

Daniel Hackett, his father says, was raised "to say how he feels and say how he thinks." Those playing against USC's basketball team get it. Those playing for USC accept it. Even those officiating USC games have had to turn a deaf ear to it.

Who's the point? Daniel Hackett bolted to play professionally in Europe. Lamont Jones found an NCAA investigation-free zone in Tucson, Ariz. So whom does O'Neill trust with the ball, and the offense? Mike Gerrity , a two-time transfer -- from Pepperdine to North Carolina Charlotte to USC -- won't be eligible until mid-December. Donte Smith made only 18 of 70 shots with 22 assists and 29 turnovers in 24 games last season, falling so far from favor that he was ticketed out of the program until the mass exodus canceled that departure.

"It would be nice if I could come in and help." Daniel Hackett was only halfway kidding when he first made that remark. Coach Tim Floyd wasn't so sure. Sitting in the USC basketball office last spring, the high school junior and his future college coach laughed somewhat awkwardly at the thought.

USC's basketball team is expected to have an entirely different look next season, as forward DeMar DeRozan, forward Taj Gibson and guard Daniel Hackett have all decided to make themselves available for the NBA draft, according to multiple sources. Hackett, a junior, will hire an agent, which will make his decision irrevocable, but Gibson, also a junior, will not, according to a source familiar with the USC program. The source asked for anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

USC's basketball team received good news on three fronts Wednesday: Daniel Hackett, Taj Gibson and Dwight Lewis should all be available tonight when the Trojans face Stanford at the Galen Center. How much and how well Hackett (flu), Gibson (pneumonia) and Lewis (sprained ankle) will play is not known. But all three participated in the walk-through Wednesday and Lewis also practiced with the team. "Taj came in today and his lungs were clean. Daniel said he is feeling better. Dwight seems ready.

USC remains king of the second division. Now the Trojans will go about upgrading their status in the Pacific 10 Conference. The 61-51 victory over seventh-place Washington State at the Galen Center on Thursday was another trip to the dentist, but it is now behind the sixth-place Trojans. Now they can set about sinking their teeth into first-place Washington on Saturday. USC, 16-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference, prepared by winning its first game in nearly three weeks.

USC sophomore guard Daniel Hackett could participate in some practice drills with his teammates as soon as Wednesday if the stress fracture in his lower back continues to show improvement, a school spokesman said Monday. Hackett resumed shooting jump shots and ran while the Trojans practiced Monday night, and he could begin some limited individual practice drills today. His status for Thursday's game at Arizona remains uncertain. Hackett, averaging 9.4 points and a team-leading 3.

USC sophomore point guard Daniel Hackett will be sidelined at least six weeks after suffering multiple fractures of his jaw Thursday afternoon when he was struck by the elbow of teammate O.J. Mayo during a pickup game at the Galen Center. Hackett said Mayo grabbed a rebound and turned to pass before smacking Hackett on the left side of his jaw. Hackett was taken to a hospital and had surgery Friday to wire shut his jaw, which was broken in three places.

The body language, and foreign language, said it all Saturday. USC's Taj Gibson sat slumped in his chair, staring upward as if to count ceiling tiles or seek guidance. Daniel Hackett, a junior guard, was on the other side of the locker room, arguing with his father, Rudy Hackett, in Italian. Those were the telltale signs of some loss of heart after Washington's 60-51 victory at the Galen Center that assured the Huskies would remain in sole possession of first place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

USC sophomore point guard Daniel Hackett was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back Monday night and will be sidelined indefinitely, according to a statement released by the school. Hackett will not require surgery for the condition but must complete a core-strengthening program to alleviate the back spasms that have plagued him since he bruised his right pelvis during a fall Jan. 31 against Arizona.

One is done. Now others have to make decisions. USC basketball Coach Tim Floyd, saying he has "everything in place right here to do something special," declined an offer from Arizona -- and turned aside an inquiry from Memphis -- announcing Thursday that he would remain with the Trojans. As he indicated last year when Louisiana State wooed him, Floyd said, "This will be the last time I look unless the administration gets tired of me."

USC's basketball roster could be in for a makeover. Will forward DeMar DeRozan be a one-and-done? Will juniors Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson be back? What will incoming recruit Renardo Sidney score on his SAT? Those are a few of the questions that should be answered in the coming weeks. "It's something I haven't really thought about," DeRozan said after he scored 18 points in a 74-69 loss to Michigan State that eliminated the Trojans from the NCAA tournament Sunday.

One and not done. That means more to USC than just the hope freshman forward DeMar DeRozan will send a stay-in-school message when the season is over. For now, getting to the NCAA tournament is the only thing on the Trojans' to-do list after a 79-75 victory over California in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament Thursday. There were times when USC's NCAA hopes seemed ready to vanish into the Staples Center rafters.

Daniel Hackett, his father says, was raised "to say how he feels and say how he thinks." Those playing against USC's basketball team get it. Those playing for USC accept it. Even those officiating USC games have had to turn a deaf ear to it.

USC players held a team meeting Monday in an effort to work through problems they have had on and off the court. The Trojans have lost four of their last five games, with their frustration underscored by a heated argument between Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis after a 60-51 loss Saturday to Washington. Hackett and Lewis apologized to the team, but discussions in the meeting went beyond the incident. "It helped us understand how guys feel inside themselves," Hackett said.

A muzzle was firmly attached to USC guard Daniel Hackett. Media were banned from practice. Even team managers were throwing out "no comments." The Trojans' basketball team had seen better days. The fallout from Saturday's 61-50 loss to Washington, and the tense locker room afterward, lingered at the Galen Center on Monday. Fragile seemed the status quo, as the Trojans prepared for a pivotal weekend in the Bay Area. USC faces California on Thursday and Stanford on Saturday.

For the second time in three years, USC is headed into the final five weeks of Pacific 10 Conference play without one of its top guards. Coach Tim Floyd said Tuesday that sophomore Daniel Hackett would "definitely" miss USC's game against UCLA on Sunday because of a stress fracture in his lower back and a partially torn oblique muscle. Hackett probably will miss games next week against the Oregon schools, Floyd said, and might be out for the rest of the season.

Even though USC sophomore Daniel Hackett was relieved to learn that he had not seriously injured his pelvis during a fall Thursday night, Coach Tim Floyd said Friday that he "just can't imagine it at this point" that the point guard would play tonight against Arizona State. Hackett said he was diagnosed with a deep pelvis bruise after diving in an attempt to keep the ball from going out of bounds along the baseline in the first two minutes of the Trojans' 80-69 loss to Arizona.

The body language, and foreign language, said it all Saturday. USC's Taj Gibson sat slumped in his chair, staring upward as if to count ceiling tiles or seek guidance. Daniel Hackett, a junior guard, was on the other side of the locker room, arguing with his father, Rudy Hackett, in Italian. Those were the telltale signs of some loss of heart after Washington's 60-51 victory at the Galen Center that assured the Huskies would remain in sole possession of first place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

USC remains king of the second division. Now the Trojans will go about upgrading their status in the Pacific 10 Conference. The 61-51 victory over seventh-place Washington State at the Galen Center on Thursday was another trip to the dentist, but it is now behind the sixth-place Trojans. Now they can set about sinking their teeth into first-place Washington on Saturday. USC, 16-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference, prepared by winning its first game in nearly three weeks.