Westphal downplays LA visit

By Christian Ewell
Associate Sports Editor

Former Phoenix Suns Coach Paul Westphal has been in Los Angeles twice recently, but the former USC and NBA star denied Monday that either of those trips had anything to do with the head coaching job for USC men's basketball.
USC fired Charlie Parker on Feb. 7 and named assistant Henry Bibby as interim coach, but Westphal is considered a prime candidate to replace Parker permanently, though USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett denied making him an offer.
Westphal--who led the Suns to the NBA Finals in the first of his three years with the team before getting fired last month--denied that he had negotiated with USC over the men's basketball job.
But in an interview with the Daily Trojan, he would neither confirm nor deny that USC had offered him the job or that he had met with USC officials in Phoenix last month, as the Los Angeles Times reported on Feb. 8.
Westphal told the Daily Trojan he was in town once for a friend's wedding and the other time to see the premiere of the movie "Happy Gilmore," which was directed by his close friend, Denis Dugan.
Westphal was rumored to have been seen on campus last week, a suggestion he found humorous.
"As (Westphal and Dugan) were driving around town, I heard I'd taken the job," Westphal said. "I said, `Oh really!'"
Westphal played at USC from 1970-72, earning Pacific Eight Conference honors in three consecutive seasons. Westphal then played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Seattle Supersonics and the Suns.