Gabe Pruitt

With Errick Craven's recent ineffectiveness and a lingering ankle injury, Dwayne Shackleford is poised to replace the senior guard in the USC rotation. "Oh yeah, Shack could easily take my minutes," said Craven, who today will have an MRI test on the right ankle he severely sprained in practice on Dec. 27. Earlier X-rays were negative. "The reality is, I could only get two minutes a game. It's been like that since my freshman year. Now I'm just like, 'OK, whatever.'

There are no Western Michigans or Loyola Marymounts in the Pacific 10 Conference, a fact USC seems to be slowly grasping as it inches toward conference play. Even though the Trojans continue to pile up victories against teams from mid-major conferences, they are just starting to show the attention to detail they will need to avoid another last-place conference finish.

When USC Coach Tim Floyd made a substitution early in the second half Sunday afternoon in the Sports Arena, RouSean Cromwell assumed he was being pulled and trotted toward the Trojan bench. It seemed a safe guess for the freshman forward, who had exhibited tremendous effort but looked lost at times during the Trojans' two exhibition games. But when Floyd motioned for the 6-foot-10, 215-pounder to stay on the floor, he clearly made the right decision.

The most chatty Trojan wasn't saying anything. Senior guard Lodrick Stewart remained mostly mum late Wednesday night when asked about his technical foul that proved to be perhaps the most pivotal play in No. 2 UCLA's 70-65 comeback victory over No. 19 USC at Pauley Pavilion. "I don't even want to talk about it," Stewart said. "They won the game."

USC point guard Gabe Pruitt, who closed his junior season with a flourish during the NCAA tournament, said he will make himself available for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent so that he protects his remaining year of college eligibility. "I just thought the opportunity was there," the 6-foot-4 Pruitt said. "I wanted to get a feel for what it's like, get a lot of evaluations. If I'm guaranteed first round, obviously I'm going to go."

The last few days, USC players and coaches answered question after question about Texas super-freshman Kevin Durant. How did they plan to guard one of the biggest stars in college basketball? Would they go tall or small? Single or double team? As it turned out, the Trojans were quietly focused on another player. The best way to upset the Longhorns, they figured, was to harass point guard D.J. Augustin.

Washington State might have provided Pacific 10 Conference teams with a how-to guide on denying USC freshman forward Taj Gibson the ball in crucial situations. The Cougars continually kept the Trojans from finding their favorite big man for inside looks during the last few possessions of Washington State's 58-55 victory Saturday at the Galen Center.

USC's top recruit, center Robert Swift of Bakersfield High, has made himself available for the NBA draft, though he has not hired an agent and could still play for the Trojans. Swift, a 7-foot, 245-pound McDonald's All-American, faxed his letter to the NBA late Tuesday night. "I'm not going to hire an agent until I find out where I'm going to go or if I'm going" to be drafted, Swift said Wednesday night. The website www.NBAdraft.net projects Swift as the 21st pick, by the Utah Jazz.

RouSean Cromwell's college basketball career couldn't have gotten off to a more auspicious start. The USC forward had 17 points and 12 rebounds against Cal State Northridge in his debut and became a part-time starter for a team that upset nationally ranked North Carolina during a nine-game winning streak. His fortunes changed in the unlikeliest of places, a layup line before a game against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 23, 2005.

Gregg Guenther could only smile at the pageantry around him in Heritage Hall. It's rivalry week and USC is preparing to face UCLA in football, but Guenther left that part of his life behind last summer. Guenther, who came to USC in 2000 on a football scholarship and joined the basketball team after the bowl season three years running, traded in his shoulder pads for good when he became a scholarship basketball player.