``Second Chance Season,'' a documentary on Nick Young, will premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 22. That's six days before Young is expected to go in the first round of the NBA draft.

I first knew of the documentary when I covered Young's final game in high school. After Cleveland fell to Fairfax in the City semifinals, I interviewed Young outside the locker room and noticed someone with a camera filming the interview. That was Dan Forer, a former producer for CBS Sports. Most of the filming was done in Young's years at Cleveland. Forer showed me a few clips of the film a year ago, and it will be moving for all USC fans who know and care about Nick. It tells the story of everything Young has overcome to be on the cusp of his NBA dream, and how playing basketball pulled his family out of the depression from his oldest brother's murder. It's similar to the feature I wrote on Young before the first UCLA game of the year, but more in depth and capturing on film the recovery process.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I hear Davon successfully completed the class he was taking in the spring and now just needs to make it through the clearinghouse.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The team's proposed three-day trip to Mexico would be during Labor Day Weekend the first week of September, if Floyd can get approval from the university. He's hoping to use the 10 practice days and three games against international competition to get USC's key imcoming freshmen acquainted.

``We probably lost more scoring than anyone in the league going into next year,'' Floyd said of the Trojans losing their top-three scorers -- Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt to the draft, and Lodrick Stewart to graduation. ``We have to figure out who our guys are. We really won't know that unitl we get on the floor and work on it.''

USC's highly regarded incoming class includes guard O.J. Mayo, forward Davon Jefferson and point guard Angelo Johnson.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (72)

Gabe Pruitt, who recently hired an agent to make it impossible for him to return to USC basketball, did so after finding out he was academically ineligible based on his spring semester grades, according to coach Tim Floyd.

Floyd said that Pruitt could have applied for reinstatement and likely used summer school to regain his eligibility for the fall.

``He felt he was far enough along with the NBA that he would be taking away from his preparation for the draft and elected to sign with an agent and move on,’’ Floyd said.

Click for full story

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 9:36 PM | Permalink

Gabe Pruitt has hired Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports Management as his agent according to sources, meaning he will stay in the NBA draft and not return to USC for his senior season.

The 6-foot-4 guard, who helped USC advance to the NCAA regional semifinals last season, declared for the draft last month but did not immediately hire an agent so he could keep open the option of returning to school.

Goldfeder also represents UCLA guard Arron Afflalo in this draft. Other NBA players who use the agency include Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce and Lamar Odom.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

I quoted Floyd in my story on text messaging in today's paper. You can view it here.

Interestingly, though Floyd said he has never used text messaging, Angelo Johnson told me he has received texts from Floyd. Perhaps the assistant coaches send texts on his behalf.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The USC commit said he will take the SAT for the second time on June 2 and then take two summer classes in an effort to enroll at USC in the fall.

Johnson, who came to Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley after growing up in Minnesota and spending a year with his mom in Atlanta, said he was originally planning to go back East for college until he saw the way USC played last season.

``I saw the program was better than I thought,'' Johnson said of USC. ``With the Sweet 16 and a new arena, it's a big-time program. I finally realized that.''

Johnson, a point guard, isn't worried about coming to the Trojans at the same time as uber-recruit O.J. Mayo.

``Coach (Tim Floyd) said he wanted two point guards and that now, with me and O.J. coming, he'll be able to run the offense he wants to run,'' Johnson said. ``After he said that, I had no problem coming to USC with O.J.''

Johnson thinks he could end up starting as a freshman if Gabe Pruitt stays in the NBA draft.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (56)

Angelo Johnson, who originally gave USC an oral commitment as part of the 2008 class, signed a letter of intent to enter USC for next season.

Johnson, a point guard from Stoneridge Prep of Simi Valley, is already in his fifth year at the prep level. He went to high school for three years in Minnesota before moving to a prep school in Georgia for one season and then moving to Stoneridge Prep this past year.

Mike Mahoney, who runs Stoneridge Prep, said the school had trouble getting transcripts from Marietta Convent Christian in Georgia and didn't count that year of course work for Johnson. They recently tracked down the transcripts and found he had enough core classes to graduate next month.

``Since I first got here, I've talked about playing multiple point guards,'' USC coach Tim Floyd said. ``Angelo is a pure point guard who gives us that opportunity. His quickness and decision making will really help us. We struggled at times staying between smaller point guards and the basket. He has the abilty to do that.''

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (94)

Jeopardy college championship episodes airing this week were filmed at Galen Center.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 7:27 PM | Permalink

The LA Stars All-Star and Celebrity Game will be held at Galen Center this year. Tickets went on sale today for the Aug. 5 game, available through the USC ticket office. The charitable event is hosted by a couple of NBA players with local ties -- UCLA product Baron Davis and Grant High of Van Nuys standout Gilbert Arenas -- as well as Paul Pierce.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Nick Young chose Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports to represent him heading into June's NBA draft.

Bartelstein's client list includes Adam Morrison of the Charlotte Bobcats, Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers and Antoine Walker of the Miami Heat. Young worked out with Morrison last summer when he was preparing for the draft.

Now that he's signed with an agent, Young's decision to enter the NBA draft is final. He cannot return to play for USC.

Posted by Matthew Kredell at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)