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The future is bright for USC basketball, Andy Enfield

NCAA Basketball Tournament - First Round - Providence v Southern California

RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 17: Head coach Andy Enfield of the USC Trojans shouts in the first half against the Providence Friars during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PNC Arena on March 17, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

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Has anyone in college basketball had a better offseason than Andy Enfield?

USC’s head coach was the clear-cut winner during the drama of the early entry deadline, as he had five players with NBA potential make the decision to return to school for at least one more season -- Chimezie Metu, Bennie Boatwright, De’anthony Melton, Elijah Stewart and Jordan McLaughlin.

That’s good.

That’s one of the reason that the Trojans are considered a potential top ten team and the biggest threat to challenge Arizona in the Pac-12.

Alone, that would have been a great summer for Enfield. We’ve been saying for two years that USC is “a year away” and it looks like that year has finally arrived.

And then last week happened.

The Trojans landed commitments from three four-star prospects in the span of seven days. First, it was J’Raan Brooks, a top 60 power forward from Seattle, that made the pledge to Enfield and company. Then it was Taeshon Cherry, a 6-foot-9 small forward that is ranked 30th in Rivals top 100 but is a five-star prospect according to a couple of the other major scouting services. Then on Sunday it was Kevin Porter Jr., a top 50 shooting guard and another Seattle product.

And just like that, USC has, essentially, their entire recruiting class for the 2018 season filled.

They’re probably not done yet, not when it seems fairly likely at least one of Metu, Boatwright and Melton will be gone after this season, but this is an enviable spot to be in: A potential top ten team with a veteran core and a full recruiting class in place before the July 4th holiday.

I tried to tell you hiring Enfield would be worth the gamble.