Los Angeles Times - 06.08.2019

LATIMES.COM/SPORTS TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019D3

Which underachieving

Power Five division will

assert itself?

When the Atlantic Coast

Conference added Miami

and Virginia Tech in 2004

and Boston College in 2005

to become a 12-team confer-

ence, leading to the creation

of two divisions, the as-

sumption was that the

Hokies and Hurricanes

would annually battle for

Coastal division supremacy

and the winner would face

Bobby Bowden’s dominant

Florida State program in a

high-stakes league champi-

onship game.

At the time, there was

every reason to believe that

was fair. Miami had played

in back-to-back Bowl

Championship Series title

games in 2001 and ’02 and

had won five national cham-

pionships dating to 1983.

Frank Beamer had built

Virginia Tech into a consis-

tent winner, and the Hokies

had played in the national

championship game in 1999.

Last season’s scenario —

a mediocre Pittsburgh team

that finished 7-7 won the

Coastal and was all that

stood in the way of Atlantic

division winner Clemson

and the College Football

Playoff — would have been

unthinkable 15 years ago.

But since joining the

ACC, Miami has compiled

only one 10-win season, and

Virginia Tech has reached

double digits only once in

seven years. With Manny

Diaz taking over for Mark

Richt at Miami and Justin

Fuente struggling to elevate

Virginia Tech, it looks like

another year of Clemson

having the easiest road to

the playoff.

In the realignment era,

setting up even divisions

has been a challenge across

the country. The Big Ten’s

West division has been hurt

by Nebraska’s irrelevance,

and Wisconsin looks under-

whelming after falling flat

last season with a No. 4

preseason ranking.

Northwestern repre-

sented the West in the

league title game, which is

telling.

In the Pac-12, a down

USC has made the Pac-12

South a bit of a punchline.

Utah won the South last

year and was surprisingly

picked by the media to win

the league this year.

Much of this is cyclical,

and college football’s three

underachieving Power Five

divisions all need the same

thing: their name programs

to play to their traditional

standing.

The Trojans have the

talent to take back the

South from Utah, but the

smart bet is for the Big Ten

West to make the most

progress this season.

Nebraska is a trendy pick

to have a bounce-back year

under second-year coach

Scott Frost, who will at-

tempt to bring modern

offensive football to Ameri-

ca’s Heartland by unleash-

ing sophomore quarterback

Adrian Martinez. Wiscon-

sin’s program has a strong

backbone and returns All-

American running back

Jonathan Taylor to carry

the load.

Even Kirk Ferentz’s

steady Iowa Hawkeyes have

the look of a top-25 team.

19 DAYS

TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Leading up to the opening games of the season on Aug. 24,

The Times each day will examine the top story lines for 2019

all the way up to the kickoff.

Praying for parity

in the Power Five

By J. Brady McCollough

The motivation came

from within, and from all

around him.

Osa Odighizuwa sized

up UCLA’s young batch of

defensive linemen and real-

ized that, as a fourth-year

junior, he was the oldest.

That made him feel almost

obliged to fulfill a coach’s

challenge to run offseason

workouts.

And so a new leader was

born, at 6 feet 2 and 280

pounds.

“He’s kind of like that big

brother,” sophomore defen-

sive lineman Atonio Mafi

said Monday of Odighizuwa,

“but also like a coach type.”

Odighizuwa set up drills

for his fellow linemen nearly

every day after classes and

on Saturdays. They worked

on hand placement, foot-

work and other techniques

to improve their pass rush.

The mentor shared in the

growth.

“The best way to learn

something is to teach it to

other people,” Odighizuwa

said, “so I like answering

people’s questions and just

like being someone that they

can look to.”

Odighizuwa had long

known the power of a role

model, having watched old-

er brother Owastar for the

Bruins before going on to

play for the NFL’s New York

Giants.

UCLA’s current front-

man for its 3-4 defensive

alignment said he and fellow

projected starters Mafi and

Otito Ogbonnia were

playing more instinctively as

a result of having mastered

the playbook during their

second year under defensive

coordinator Jerry Azzinaro.

“When you know the sys-

tem,” Odighizuwa said, “you

don’t have to think as much,

you can just make presnap

reads and things like that.”

The players’ increased

knowledge has also allowed

coaches to install additional

schematic wrinkles, Mafi

said.

Any improvement is wel-

come for one of the nation’s

worst pass-rushing units.

UCLA’s 15 sacks last season

tied it with Oregon State for

last place in the Pac-12 Con-

ference. The Bruins’ defen-

sive line generated only four

sacks, led by Odighizuwa’s

three.

Odighizuwa said sacks

shouldn’t be the only mea-

sure of the linemen’s suc-

cess. They also want to help

shut down the opposing run-

ning game and force rushed

throws to help the UCLA

secondary.

The line figures to get

ample help from sophomore

Tyler Manoa, junior Martin

Andrus Jr.and recently con-

verted linebacker Elijah

Wade, who manned the sec-

ond team during a recent

practice.

At 6-2 and 360 pounds,

Mafi has adopted a less-is-

more approach, having shed

51 pounds since his arrival on

campus last summer. A

body that’s as lean as it’s

been since he was a fresh-

man in high school isn’t the

only weapon he’s packing.

“It’s all about intent,” Mafi

said. “Last year, we didn’t

really have that pass rush

mind-set, and that’s what we

definitely have this year.”

The linemen also don’t

seem to mind the grind of

training camp, thanks to

their new leader.

“The way he’s been work-

ing, man, it’s unmatched,”

linebacker Krys Barnessaid

of Odighizuwa. “To see him

transition into the role that

he has now, it’s huge. I’m

really excited for the season

to see the breakout year he’s

going to have.”

Etc.

UCLA’s defense suffered

its first injury casualty of

training camp. Linebacker

Tyree Thompsonwas spot-

ted wearing a yellow jersey in

the weight room alongside

injured running back

Joshua Kelley during the

portion of practice open to

the media. Receivers Theo

Howard, Michael Ezeike

and Dymond Leepracticed

while wearing yellow jerseys

to signal they, too, were re-

covering from injuries. The

Bruins are scheduled to take

Tuesday off from practice.

UCLA REPORT

Odighizuwa

embraces new

leadership role

By Ben Bolch

The consensus top
basketball prospect in the
country is on his way to USC.
Evan Mobley, the No. 1
overall recruit in the 2020
class according to the
247Sports Composite
Rankings, chose the Trojans
on Monday, The Times has
confirmed. Mobley will be
one of the highest-rated
recruits to ever play for
USC’s basketball program.
Mobley’s commitment
has long been viewed as a
foregone conclusion, since
his father, Eric Mobley,
joined Andy Enfield’s staff.
Mobley’s brother, Isaiah, is
also a five-star forward who
is already practicing with
the team as a freshman.
The opportunity to play
alongside his brother — and
for his father, who joined
USC as an assistant in wake
of Tony Bland’s unceremo-
nious exit — undoubtedly
played an outsized role in
Mobley’s decision.
In an interview with
247Sports, Mobley assured
that his recruitment was
kept open, in spite of his fam-
ily connection to the Tro-
jans. Though, other schools,

apparently convinced he

was unattainable, never “re-

cruited me super hard,”

Mobley said. “USC was al-

ways at the top.”

For a school that has

spent most of the last dec-

ade in relative basketball ob-

scurity, the significance of

such a high-profile commit-

ment can’t be overstated. A

freakishly athletic 7-footer,

capable of dominating on

both ends and in transition,

Mobley averaged 19 points,

10 rebounds and nearly five

blocks per game last season

as a junior at Rancho Chris-

tian in Temecula.

Mobley, who also boasts a

7-foot-5 wingspan and a 40-

inch vertical, is viewed by

most as “a generational tal-

ent,” says Etop Udo-Ema,

the founder of Compton

Magic, Mobley’s AAU pro-

gram. As far as Udo-Ema is

concerned, Mobley is the

best big man to come out of

Los Angeles since Domin-

guez High’s Tyson Chandler,

who was chosen No. 2 overall

in the 2001 NBA draft.

Ray Barefield, Mobley’s

coach at Rancho Christian,

actually takes that projec-

tion a step further. He de-

scribed Mobley’s potential

as “a little bit of the Greek

Freak [Giannis Anteto-

kounmpo] and Kevin Du-

rant, all in one.”

“As a prospect,” Barefield

says, “I can’t imagine he’s

not in the top three ever in

California.”

As such, his commit-

ment, the first for USC in the

2020 class, could shift how

recruits, now and in the near

future, view USC’s basket-

ball trajectory.

It’s widely believed that

Mobley will play only one

season at USC before de-

parting for the NBA. But

even just one season with

such a generational player

could turn the tide for a

school that has long trailed

other top programs on the

recruiting trail.

“When has USC had the

No. 1 player in the country?”

Udo-Ema said. “This is a po-

sitionless 7-footer who really

could be a marquee guy in

the NBA someday.”

The last time the Trojans

signed one of the nation’s

foremost recruits, it didn’t

quite go as planned. O.J.

Mayo arrived at USC in 2007

as one of the most-hyped

recruits in program history

and averaged 20 points per

game during his lone season.

But in 2010, an NCAA investi-

gation revealed that Mayo

received improper benefits

during his recruitment and

had thus forfeited his ama-

teur status. USC was then

forced to vacate all 21 of its

wins from Mayo’s only sea-

son, as well as withdraw

from postseason action in

2009-10.

While Mobley’s commit-

ment is certainly the most

celebrated in some time at

USC, the Trojans’ incoming

class of freshmen appears to

be one of the best in program

history.

The class is highlighted

by five-star forwards Isaiah

Mobley and Chino Hills’

Onyeka Okongwu, the

reigning Times player of the

year.

That impressive recruit-

ing class will get its first taste

of game action together this

week as USC travels to Eu-

rope for a 10-day trip that will

include stops in Barcelona,

Spain; Paris and Cannes.

USC reels in

top prospect

in Mobley

Standout at Rancho

Christian in Temecula

could alter Trojans’

future recruiting.

By Ryan Kartje

EVAN MOBLEYcommits to USC to join his father

and brother as part of the Trojans basketball family.

Gregory PayanAssociated Press

has taken a liking to a new
nickname — Zipper Boy.
O’Neal was preparing to
start his career at UCLA last
summer when he “felt
funny” during practices. He
was diagnosed with an
anomalous coronary artery
— a congenital heart defect
that caused an artery to
grow in the wrong place.
He announced on Twit-
ter that he would redshirt
his freshman season. He
underwent open-heart
surgery on Dec. 13, 2018.
“The recovery was prob-
ably the easiest part,” said
Shaunie O’Neal, his mother.
“It was the pre-surgery and
surgery that was the tough-
est part. Recovery, it was
just patience for him. I know
he was frustrated and
wanted to get back faster,
[but] we pushed through.”
The pain after his surgery
was unlike anything O’Neal
had felt before. Still, he
wanted to walk around the
hospital just days afterward.
Sitting around for
months and not being able
to play challenged him men-
tally.
“The recovery was hard.
It was hard to sit around and
do nothing for almost a
year,” he said. “So the men-
tal side I had crazy thoughts
in my head [and] people
telling me this and that. I
had to overcome. Every time
I play, I still think about it.
Every time I look in the mir-
ror, I have this giant scar on

my chest [that’s] going to be

there forever.”

After months of rehabili-

tation, the 6-foot-9 forward

was medically cleared to

play in March.

He decided to play in the

Drew League, which fea-

tures high school, college,

professional and street play-

ers competing on 24 teams.

“I was itching to get back

after my surgery, so the

Drew League was the first

thing that came [up],”

O’Neal said. “I feel good

playing in the Drew League.

It’s fun playing here. I didn’t

announce that I was playing

or anything. I just showed up

and then people started fol-

lowing along.”

When O’Neal arrived at

King Drew Magnet High in

Los Angeles to play on June

15, he was excited to play in

front of his hometown

crowd.

“I feel like if you’re an L.A.

basketball player you have

to come to the Drew League

and kind of just get that re-

spect in house,” O’Neal said.

In his first game following

surgery, O’Neal caught a lob

from former NBA point

guard Brandon Jennings for

his first basket in months.

He finished a putback dunk

after a miss from K.J. Mar-

tin.

“I felt weird. I felt new to

the sport,” O’Neal said. “I

had like a cool 10 points. I

was just trying to get my run

and my wind back to see how

I felt. I felt really good. I felt

like a whole new player. I

could definitely feel the dif-

ference from my last high

school game to my first Drew

League game. I felt stronger,

better. I felt like my breath-

ing was better.”

He drove to the basket

and completed dunks like

his father, the Hall of Fame

center who helped the Lak-

ers win three straight NBA

titles from 2000 to 2002.

He is averaging 15 points

and nearly 10 rebounds a

game in the Drew League,

playing for Tuff Crowd, a

team sponsored by his

mother.

O’Neal’s return is a

source of great joy for Shau-

nie O’Neal.

“That is the best part of it

all. His passion and his

dream is to play ball,” she

said. “So, I knew how bad he

wanted to get back on the

court and now that he is

[back], it’s even more joy

watching him now than it

was before.”

Being away from basket-

ball for so long taught

O’Neal to be more grateful.

“I learned to never take

anything for granted be-

cause I thought everything

was fine before. Thought I

had the perfect life going

on,” he said. “I thought

basketball was going to be all

this and that and then

boom, I got the call one day

that I couldn’t play.”

Support from his family

inspired O’Neal to add a tat-

too to his calf. It shows

Shaquille O’Neal’s reaction

after an alley-oop dunk in

the seventh game of the 2000

Western Conference finals

against the Portland Trail

Blazers.

While only 4 months old

at the time of the game,

O’Neal fondly recalls the sto-

ries his father told him about

the iconic play that helped

clinch a spot in the NBA Fi-

nals for the Lakers. “In an in-

terview, he said he was

pointing at me,” O’Neal said.

“We were up in the box suites

and it’s a special moment to

me. I was always told that’s

where I got my basketball

skills from. He said he was

just pointing, and the skills

went to me. It’s just a special

moment.

“I was going to get a regu-

lar picture of him, but I feel

like this picture has more

meaning. I’m glad I have it

tattooed on me.”

O’Neal added a picture of

his mom to the other side of

his calf. The new ink is dedi-

cated to his parents for their

unwavering support during

one of the toughest times in

his life.

“I feel [really] good. I’m

back at UCLA, training,

weightlifting and practicing,

so my wind is getting back,”

O’Neal said. “Still not 100%

yet.

“It’s going to take awhile,

but I feel really good. I feel

like each day I’m getting bet-

ter. Every time I play it’s a

blessing to be playing

again.”

SHAREEF O’NEAL,dunking easily for Crossroads’ Roadrunners, missed his freshman season at UCLA after
being diagnosed with an anomalous coronary artery and undergoing open-heart surgery last year.

Gina FerazziLos Angeles Times

UCLA’s O’Neal back on court

[O’Neal,from D1]