USC’s Four Freshmen Emerge as Campus Activists of the ‘80s

Four 19-year-old freshman basketball players walk into the USC athletic director’s office and demand that the coaching vacancy be filled by someone from their own list of candidates. Two blue-chip high school prospects leaning toward USC threaten to matriculate elsewhere if the four freshmen leave USC. The USC athletic director refers to himself as “a giant sponge.”

Did this actually happen, or have I walked in on the middle of a Woody Allen movie?

Maybe it’s not as strange as it seems. Let’s see if we can sort it all out.

Stan Morrison stepped down--or was it up?--from the USC head coaching job. He got out just in time, it seems, just ahead of a mutiny, or a coup d’etat, or Coupe de Ville, or something.

Four freshman players--Tom Lewis, Rich Grande, Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers--all of whom played a lot this season under Morrison, decided they want a voice in the selection of Morrison’s replacement. They stormed the office of Athletic Director Mike McGee and told him they wanted a West Coast coach, preferably Loyola Marymount’s Paul Westhead, Pepperdine’s Jim Harrick or UC Irvine’s Bill Mulligan.

The four freshmen explained that they want a local guy because they don’t want a new coach “who will take a long time to adjust to the program.” Two of the four freshmen, by the way, are from Philadelphia.

The four freshmen took no hostages--after all, this isn’t the uncivilized ‘60s--but they did make a threat. They will hang together, like Swiss mountain climbers. If one of the four doesn’t like the new coach and decides to pack up, the other three will leave town, too.

Freshmen have come a long way since I was in school. I was somewhat intimidated by college and athletics. I spent most of my freshman year trying to figure out how to work the combination on my gym locker.

It’s refreshing that college freshmen of today are more confident and assertive. I think it has something to do with the bold new soda pop and beer TV commercials, pounding home the message that citizens between the ages of 15 and 23 are members of a master race.

If you’re part of a bright new generation, grabbing for gusto and having it all, you’re less likely than I was to take any guff from your basketball coach or athletic director.

To his credit, McGee realizes that kids today require delicate handling. Instead of calling for armed security police to eject and arrest the four intruders, McGee listened politely. McGee reportedly told the players he is soaking up as much information and input as he can, that he is “a giant sponge.”

If so, what McGee needs to do is get together with a giant can of Comet and clean up the mess that is the USC basketball program.

When the four freshmen come to me for advice, I’ll refer them to Earvin (Magic) Johnson, who at one time caused a big stir by publicly expressing his opinion of his team’s coaching situation.

“What do you suggest, Magic?” the four freshmen will ask.

“Well,” Magic will say, stroking his goatee, “first you win an NCAA championship, make All-American, lead your NBA team to a world championship, then . ... “

McGee is in a tough spot. Even if he hires one of the freshmen-approved candidates, there is no guarantee one of the four musketeers won’t become unhappy about whatever it is college stars become unhappy about--being required to attend practice?--and decide to leave USC anyway and take the team with him.

And if those two superstar blue-chip high school kids come to USC and join up with the four freshmen, McGee and his new coach must find a way to fit six players into the starting lineup.

The key for McGee is finding a brilliant coach. He needs someone who has a strong local background, is familiar with the USC basketball program, is young, aggressive yet laid back, tough yet sensitive, is charismatic and appreciates the necessity of entertaining the fans.

There is one such man, it occurred to me Monday night while watching the Academy Awards. Who?

Tom Selleck.

Tom attended USC on a basketball scholarship and played on the freshman team. He is an active alum, donating large sums of money. I know Selleck still loves the sport. I saw him at a Laker game last season, discussing basketball strategy with the Laker Girls.

Selleck would have to take a pay cut to coach at USC, since he earns $4.8 million a year in “Magnum, P.I.” But he could supplement his coaching salary with shoe endorsements and with a coach’s corner TV show.

Hey . . . Maybe Selleck already has interviewed for the USC job. He did conveniently drop into town this week, using the Academy Awards as a clever cover. And he hasn’t denied being interested in the USC coaching job. When I phoned his publicist and requested an interview, Selleck declined. Very unusual behavior, that of a man hiding a secret.

Look, forget I mentioned it. Tom Selleck as USC coach? That would be silly.