Earlier this week, we wrote about how former USC men’s basketball head coach Andy Enfield made the NCAA Tournament with SMU before Eric Musselman and the Trojans did. As it turned out, however, Enfield’s stay in March Madness was an extremely short one.
On Wednesday night, SMU fell 89-79 to Miami (Ohio) in the First Four. Thus, the Mustangs’ tournament run was over before it even really began.
The loss continued a trend from Enfield’s time at USC. Although the Trojans were consistently very good during his tenure there, they did not experience a ton of NCAA Tournament success. Despite winning more than 20 games seven times in 11 years under Enfield, USC made it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament just once during that stretch.
Following Wednesday night’s loss, Enfield drew plenty of criticism from SMU fans on social media. One prominent Mustangs fan account wrote, “I would rather watch 1000 SMU vs. Penn State CFP games than have Andy Enfield coach basketball at this university next year.”
Looking back, it was clear why USC and Enfield effectively mutually agreed to move on from one another two years ago. Enfield had some good moments in Los Angeles, but it felt as though he had hit his ceiling there.
After two years in Dallas, there is little evidence to suggest that Enfield does not still have a clear ceiling as a head coach. Now, the massive question facing the Trojans is whether or not Musselman can overcome a rough first two seasons and elevate the program to heights that Enfield never could.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Former USC coach Andy Enfield under fire following SMU’s NCAA loss
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
