LOS ANGELES, Calif. — USC has reached an agreement with Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield to become its men’s basketball coach, athletic director Pat Haden announced.
“Andy has been successful in every area of his life,” Haden said. “He has been a success on the court as a record-setting player, in the classroom as an academic All-American, in the corporate world with successful businesses, in his personal life as a husband and father, as an NBA assistant and shooting coach, as a collegiate assistant at Florida State and most recently as a head coach with his Sweet 16 team at Florida Gulf Coast.
“Andy’s success this season at Florida Gulf Coast was not a flash in the pan. He has a consistent and proven record of success for more than 15 years in college and the NBA. He is a respected teacher who develops his players on the court and sees them excel in the classroom, he is a noted shooting coach, he is a relentless recruiter and he has integrity and great character.
“Those in the basketball world have known of his abilities for a while.
His brand of basketball — an up-tempo offense and a stingy defense — is fun for players to play and fans to watch. He is an excellent fit at USC who will resonate well with our players, our fans and our community.”
Enfield said he was “looking forward to bringing an exciting, up-tempo style of play to USC and building the men’s basketball brand into one that the fans and basketball community will enjoy and respect.”
Enfield succeeds Kevin O’Neill, who was fired Jan. 14 with a 7-10 record for the season and 48-65 overall record in three-plus seasons. Assistant coach Bob Cantu served as interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Utilizing an up-tempo offense featuring spectacular dunks and alley-oop passes known as Dunk City, the 43-year-old Enfield guided Florida Gulf Coast to a victories over Georgetown, the second-seeded team in the South Regional, in a round of 64 game March 22, and San Diego State, which was seeded seventh, March 24, making the Eagles the first 15th seeded team to reach the Sweet 16.
Florida Gulf Coast’s NCAA run ended Friday with a 62-50 loss to third-seeded Florida Friday.
Enfield began his coaching career in the NBA by spending two seasons as the shooting coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. He later spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.
Enfield played at Division III Johns Hopkins, scoring a school-record 2,025 career points and setting an NCAA record for all divisions with a 92.5 free throw shooting percentage.
