Andy Enfield is at it again. After turning around Florida Gulf Coast with a combination of the previous regime's roster and the addition of solid transfers, Enfield is implementing the same script at USC. A couple weeks ago it was Darion Clark from Charlotte, and now it's point guard Pe'Shon Howard from Maryland.
Unlike Clark who will have to sit a year, Howard is expected to receive a waiver to be able to play immediately. He played his prep career in southern California (partially documented in the excellent book Play Their Hearts Out), and now wants to be closer to his grandmother who is ill.
Howard has good size 6-3, 190, to play point. Unfortunately, he’s never quite put it together on the court. After his freshman season his career got derailed with injuries. First, he broke his foot and missed the first 9 games of his sophomore year, and then once he came back he tore his ACL.
His offense has always been very low volume, but it entered uncharted territory as a junior when he only attempted 9% of the shots when he was on the floor. He played 36 games, started 24, and only attempted 110 shots all season (3.0 per game). His career has also been defined by turnovers, which tend to come in clusters. And he compounded his sloppy ball handling and lack of scoring by being one of the weakest rebounders in the ACC.
So why would Enfield invest in Howard? First, he’s only going to be there for a year, and USC needs bodies. And second, when Howard is on, his game can be impressive. He had 13 assists and 1 turnover in a win over LIU. He had five assists and zero turnovers in their win over Duke. He had six or more assists 9 times last year.
If the USC staff can discover that Howard, then this could be a successful transfer. If not, it will just be a one-year experiment in a program that is at least two years away from having any expectations from the fans.
