Pac-12 preview: USC

This is the eleventh in an annual 12-part series previewing the Pac-12 teams for the upcoming season.

USC may take the term "rebuilding" to another level this season.

There are seven new players on the roster this year - four of whom are from other countries. They join only five returnees, including three starters. The tallest player in the new line up is 6-foot-4, and to be sure, the Trojans will be on the small and fast side as they have eight guards, four forwards and no true center.

Players are having to adjust and learn quickly. From coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's perspective, that process is going well so far.

“This year we have a lot of new faces so, a lot of different energy with the team," she said of her new-look USC crew. “We’ve done a lot more team-building, just to get everybody on the same page. But we are excited about our potential and we are working hard to really be one of the stronger teams in the Pac-12.”

Cooper-Dyke's first two years coaching at her alma mater have been extreme. She took the team to the highest of heights in her first season, upsetting Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament and going on to win the title. Then before 2014-2015 practices had begun, leading scorer Ariya Crook was dismissed for breaking team rules. In November, guards Destinie Gibbs and Chyanne Butler both left the team. Butler was a highly-recruited freshman.

In January, senior guard Kiki Alofaituli announced she was taking a break from the team, and never returned. April saw third-leading scorer McKenzie Calvert and Amy Okwonko both transfer from the program. Top point-getters Alexyz Vaioletama and Kaneisha Horn graduated, and Drew Edelman left the team. Only five players remained on the roster going into the spring recruiting season.

To the credit of Cooper-Dyke and her assistant coaches, they produced in a hurry. Australian forward Dani Milisic and guard Khaedin Taito of New Zealand were signed in May. Guard Candela Abejon is from Spain. Forward Temi Fagbenle is a grad student who has one year of eligibility remaining. She represented Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.

Sophomore guard Sadie Edwards sat out for a year after transferring from Connecticut, and is eligible to play. Freshman guard Aliya Mazcyk hails from North Carolina, and the final newcomer, freshman forward Marguerite Effa, is a Los Angeles native.

Fagbenle, with her Olympic experience, might be the highlight of the new player roster.

“Temi is incredibly important for us, for so many different reasons,” Cooper-Dyke said. “One, she is an incredible talent, two, she has incredible size and length. But she also brings a level of maturity to our team that we were in desperate need of. She is also as smart as a whip and she can just help so many young players get better quickly.”

Cooper-Dyke praised the International players, and hinted at possible causes of last season's player exodus.

“I enjoy it because you have some different players that are hungry, that listen and actually do what you say without questioning,” Cooper-Dyke said of her Trojans from abroad. “It is great to have an international kind of flair to our program right now and this is just another phase of building the USC program and the brand to where we want it to be.”

Returning is senior guard Brianna Barrett (9.6 ppg), junior guard Jordan Adams (7.3 ppg), junior guard Courtney Jaco (7 ppg), sophomore forward Kristen Simon (6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and junior guard Alexis Lloyd (1.6 ppg).

Hard work is Cooper-Dyke's theme this season.

“It is work ethic,” she said. “Midway through that [2013-14] season, we got it, we bought in, and we were poised to go into the tournament and make a strong run. So for me, it is about getting everybody on the same page, everybody buying in and us having one focus, one drive and one passion. I think we are well on our way to doing that, that’s the only way to be successful in a very strong and competitive Pac-12.”

Despite Cooper-Dyke's strong language, USC kept a low profile at Pac-12 media day a few weeks ago, and their pre-conference schedule isn't as challenging as it has been in years past. They will be tested by West Virginia, Gonzaga and Long Beach State before beginning conference play Dec. 30, at UCLA.