Markas back home; Physioc, Arbogast will fill in

Rory Markas has returned to his Lancaster home after spending nearly a week in the hospital having surgery to remove a blod clot, and USC has a plan to move forward with its college basketball radio schedule for as long as the team's play-by-play man needs to recover.

USC said today that Steve Physioc , who works with Markas on the Angels' TV and radio broadcasting crew, would be the primary fill-in starting with the call of Saturday's game at the Galen Center against UC Irvine (12:30 p.m., KSPN-AM 710). That game will lead into the USC-Stanford football broadcast at 4 p.m. with Pete Arbogast, who will also do some fill-in games when Physioc is not available. Jim Hefner will continue as the basketball analyst.

Upcoming broadcasts include Tuesday, Nov. 18 at home against New Mexico State and a three-game trip to Puerto Rico from Nov. 20-23 for a tournament.

"We hold Rory's broadcasting work in high regard and we made it clear to him that he will continue to be our basketball play-by-play announcer when he is ready to return," said USC athletic director Mike Garrett. "We also let him know that the entire Trojan Family wishes him a healthy, speedy recovery. We realize he is anxious to get back into his announcer's chair, but he has gone through quite a medical ordeal and his recovery period will be dictated by his doctors' guidance. In the interim, we are very appreciative that such broadcast veterans as Steve and Pete agreed to pinch hit for him until he is ready to return."