USC’s Missing Piece
When USC lost freshmen O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson to the NBA Draft this past summer, they were able to ink blue-chip prospects DeMar DeRozan and Percy “ Lil’ Romeo” Miller to fill their void. Little did they know they would also be welcoming home former SoCal standout Alex Stepheson, who transferred back home to Los Angeles to be closer to his family.
The forward faces sitting out a season but is trying to obtain a waiver because his father suffers from an undisclosed illness that prompted Stepheson’s move to be closer to the family’s Southern California home.
Stepheson averaged just under 15 minutes of tick last season for a UNC squad that made it to the Final Four. Hopefully a change of scenery will do him some good. As a senior at Harvard-Westlake High School in North Hollywood, he grabbed 20 or more rebounds in 16 games.
As Stepheson and USC await word from the NCAA on his status for this season, if he’s able to play, the difference could catapult the Trojans to the top of the Pac-10. With a veteran core of Dwight Lewis, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett, adding Stepheson into the mix could be the missing piece.
Source: LA Times
September 18th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
that's whats up says:
USC will SUC this year
September 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Kobeef says:
Is Lil Romeo really a blue chip prospect? I thought his signing was a PR stunt…
September 18th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
smity far away says:
@ thats whats up
nice…
September 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
jimmhumm says:
nah, Romeo is really good. He’s kind of short (6′0″) and skinny but he is a good pg that should develop into a alright starter in a couple of years. He’s not the next A.I. but he could be the next Brevin Knight. (He wont see the league ever) But he is best friends with Demar Rozan. Its not going to hurt USC to have him around but lets just say P. Miller Senior did have some influence.
Read more here.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120485166974418241-lMyQjAxMDI4MDA0NzgwNTcxWj.html
September 18th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Celts Fan says:
@Kobeef, not a PR stunt, a stunt to get DeRozan, who’s one of his best friends, and probably to get into the very deep pockets of his pops.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Kobeef says:
@Celts and Jimmhumm
That’s kind of what I was thinking but I didn’t know about the connection between DeRozan and Lil’Romeo.
So LeBron has his horsemen and DeRozan has Romeo….any other NBA players (or future players) with a well known posse??
September 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Kobeef says:
@Jimmhumm
That article is great by the way.
Demar Derozan
Often compared to: Lebron James
Romeo Miller
Often compared to: Lil Bow Wow
Too funny…
September 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
RENO says:
@ Kobeef…. That’s some funny shit son.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
bballinca says:
Alex is a good kid and a nice ball player. He should do well at USC. Lil Romeo is horrible when talking about D1 players. He is/was on the same travel team as Demar that was of course paid for by masta P. (Romeo’s pops)
September 18th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Tha Boddy says:
The Romeo Miller signing was a minor PR stunt…nobody cares about him and he will only get burn if his father makes a few donations or calls…Bow Wow should burn this cat ASAP.USC should be ashamed
September 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
bballinca says:
Oh yeah to add to the story Lil Romeo barely played high school ball last year as he and several of the other starters at beverly Hills high staged a walk-out of some sorts and they ended up getting booted from the team. Apparently Pops was trying to run things from the bleachers.
I think the real stars name of the team was Julian Wheeler?? I think he ended up transferring to another school.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Quest??? says:
lil romeo???? plz i still cant believe he got a scholarship while ppl(like me) have to try and walk on because we live too far away from the u s for scouts to care
September 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
jimmhumm says:
@ Quest Its kind of hard for everyone with true legit talent to watch a kid with okay game get a free ride. He makes $40,000 a month from reruns of Lil romeo on BET. Its played. However the team and Romeo didn’t do anything against the law. I hear he got a reality show coming up about him being in school too.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:28 am
solomon says:
$40,000 for a re-run? damn… let’s start a reality show or something…
since they’re hooked with BET, chances are lil’ romeo would be drafted by the bobcats in the 2nd round, make another reality show called “the life of an overrated baller feat lil’ romeo”… hell, whatever…
we’re out like oj from usc
September 24th, 2008 at 12:59 am
d1son says:
Im on the team with Romeo and hes a solid player ull see that he really improved and has a nice step back. All the sick players did transfer and our coach left leavinf the rest of the team a little down but ill take care of that this year.