Kevin O'Neill's stellar 2010 recruiting class

(A/P Photo)

---

Related Articles

• Three keys to beating Stanford

• Tim Floyd resurfaces in New Orleans
  
• Loss of Damian Williams hurts Trojans
  
• Five Trojans named semifinalists
  
• Trojans in the NFL: Week nine update
• Tackling Toby Gerhart key for Trojans

It would be hard to argue that Kevin O'Neill is not earning that paycheck of his.

The USC men's basketball program recently announced it has received a number of national letters of intent from an impressive group of prospects.

The Trojans' 2010 recruiting class, ranked as one of the top recruiting class in the Pac-10 by a number of different outlets, is led by point guard Maurice Jones, guard Bryce Jones, forward-center Curtis Washington and forward Garrett Jackson.

A fifth prospect, Dwayne Polee, a 6-foot-6 small forward and ESPNU's 78th ranked  prospect, has committed to USC but has yet to sign a letter of intent to play for the Trojans.

If Polee does in fact sign with Kevin O'Neill and Southern California, it would mark a major coup for O'Neill, who has been blazing the recruiting trail since assuming the head coaching position this summer.

Currently, O'Neill's 2010 recruiting class is ranked 13^th by ESPNU and 6th by MaxPreps.com .

“And Kevin O’Neill has somehow pieced together an exciting cast of athletes at USC.” - Jason Hickman (MaxPreps)

Bryce Jones is considered the marquee piece of O'Neill's prized recruiting class. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Woodland Hills should give the Trojans a significant scoring punch.

Curtis Washington, at 6-foot-9, gives the Trojans some much needed size up front; he also has a nice skill set for a big man.

Maurice Jones, a 5-foot-7 point guard from Saginaw, Michigan, was a late addition to O'Neill's recruiting class, but the Trojans' head coach is happy to have the quick guard, who averaged big numbers in his junior season of high school.

Garrett Jackson, who could be USC's small forward of the future, hails from Portland, Oregon, and has burst onto the scene with some big numbers during his junior high school campaign.

O'Neill's progress on the recruiting circuit comes as great news for a USC men's basketball program, whose future looked bleak following the unfortunate departure of former head coach, Tim Floyd.

Tim Floyd's resignation this summer was not only a blow to the men's basketball team, it was also a blow to their recruiting efforts, with a number of the former coach's recruits jumping ship after Floyd left the school.

Floyd, who chose to part ways with USC due to increasing speculation that he was involved with some under-the-table dealings concerning star guard OJ Mayo, recently accepted an assistant coaching position with the New Orleans Hornets.