Matthew Kredell broke into the Daily News in 1998, working part time
at the paper while going to USC. The basketball team’s Elite Eight
run in 2000-01 was USC’s athletic highlight in his time at the
school, when the football team was stuck in the Paul Hackett-era.
After graduating in 2001, he started writing for the Daily News full
time. He’s in his second year covering USC, which coincides with the
rise of the program. He’ll take credit for the success, though Tim
Floyd may have more to do with it. A third-generation Los Angelean,
he grew up reading the Daily News while at El Camino Real High School
in Woodland Hills.
Hackett on covering Durant
``I wasn't intimidated. I knew I was going to handle him right from the start. It was fun. It was like a dream trying to go against a player like him. He's probably one of the best players college basketball has ever seen. I knew he was going to get his points. He still got his 30, but it was a good job.''
Durant finished with 30 points on 11-of-24 shooting with nine rebounds. But with Hackett and Lewis on Durant, it allowed Taj Gibson to stay out of foul trouble and deny penetration to the basket.