Harold Miner

Harold Miner and Tracy Murray. They play basketball in a city populated by certain neighbors so desperate, so destitute, that, roughly a week ago--can it possibly have been that long?--thousands of them went on a window-smashing, business-torching rampage, some looking for vengeance, but others looking for a VCR or a new pair of shoes. And you wonder why a young person today might be tempted to reach out and grab a million dollars when someone is offering it?

USC basketball Coach George Raveling, responding to an ESPN report, said he still doesn't know if his star player, Harold Miner, will enter the NBA draft. "I just talked to Harold an hour ago, and he didn't say anything about it to me," Raveling said Monday night. ESPN reported that a news conference has been scheduled for Thursday in which Miner will make his intentions known. A USC spokesman confirmed that Miner will hold a press conference "at the end of the week."

USC basketball star Harold Miner received a written apology Tuesday from a Las Vegas company, HBD, Inc., that had used his name without permission to promote a rap song entitled: "On Our Way to the NBA." The company had announced last week that Miner was one of four college basketball players who had agreed to cut a rap record. Miner told The Times on Monday that he had not agreed. George Luster, vice president of HBD, Inc., issued the following statement Tuesday: "HBD, Inc.

USC basketball star Harold Miner said Monday he has no affiliation with a Las Vegas company that is using his name to promote a rap song called "On Our Way to the NBA." In a statement issued through the USC sports information department, Miner, who recently completed his junior season, said he remains undecided about making himself available for this year's NBA draft.

USC guard Harold Miner set out to prove that he was one of the nation's best college basketball players when the Trojans met Florida State in an NCAA tournament first-round game last season. Instead, Miner suffered through one of the worst shooting performances of his career, making only seven of 27 shots as the Seminoles eliminated the Trojans, 75-72.

USC junior Harold Miner was named a first team All-American Monday by the Associated Press, and UCLA's Don MacLean was named to the second team. Miner, a guard who averaged 26.7 points, was selected on 52 first-team votes, and like Shaquille O'Neal of Louisiana State, was not voted below second team. "This honor is consistent with his performance all year," Trojan Coach George Raveling said. "He's done so much for this program."

Long after USC's 70-69 victory over Arizona on Saturday, Harold Miner walked into an empty Sports Arena for what could have been a final look. The junior guard said that he wanted to savor the upset victory over the second-ranked Wildcats a little longer, adding that he was sad that his college career might be coming to an end. Although Miner, 20, has not announced whether he will make himself available for the NBA draft in June, he indicated that it is a strong possibility.

After watching USC guard Harold Miner tire at the end of his first two seasons, Coach George Raveling urged Miner to begin lifting weights. Miner followed Raveling's advice, and he has developed more stamina this season. Miner's increased endurance was evident Thursday night. He scored 35 points in 37 minutes as the 15th-ranked Trojans beat California, 94-81, before 4,173 at the Sports Arena.

Harold Miner became USC's all-time scoring leader Thursday night in the Trojans' 75-62 victory over Washington State at the Sports Arena, but had difficulty talking about it afterward. Miner, who scored 23 points to pass previous Trojan scoring leader Ronnie Coleman, was unable to discuss the record with reporters because he suffered a lacerated tongue that required two stitches.

USC Coach George Raveling was startled Wednesday morning when he saw that his 25th-ranked Trojans were listed as 15 1/2-point underdogs in their game against second-ranked UCLA later that night at Pauley Pavilion. "It really shook me a lot because usually those guys are pretty close," Raveling said. 'I said, 'Man, we're going to get killed.' " But the oddsmakers weren't close, and neither was Raveling.