Ebony Hoffman

Filled with accolades, forward chooses USC for more than basketball

By DAVID BATALLER
Staff Writer

Come this Saturday night, 64 teams will rejoice in the fact that they will be playing in the prestigious women's NCAA Tournament, where only the best of the best will vie for a national title.
Another 32 teams will be happy to play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament, as they were good enough to qualify for postseason play.
This Saturday night, though, USC women's freshman forward standout Ebony Hoffman will not be preparing for her team's next opponent. Her first year as a college basketball player will be over, and she will watch the postseason tournaments from her couch.
Hoffman passed up the chance to win a national championship by turning down the likes of perennial powerhouses such as Tennessee and Connecticut to come to USC.
And while these two teams will surely be No. 1 seeds in their respective regions, the No. 2 prep recruit in the nation according to USA Today, has no regrets.
"Here at USC, I'll receive a great education in addition to basketball," said Hoffman, a communications major minoring in business. "A USC degree will get me a great job when I'm done playing basketball. It's not the same as a degree from a Tennessee or a UConn.
"I wanted to make sure I had a future ahead of me, and going to Tennessee or Connecticut wouldn't have fulfilled my personal goals as 'SC has the power to."
With all of the talent that Hoffman exudes, and all of the accolades she has collected in her career, it's hard to believe she has more on her mind than just basketball.
She is in a tight race that will come down to the wire for the Pacific-10 Conference rebounding title with an average of eight boards per game. A lock to compete for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Hoffman will also be considered for Player of the Year.
A graduate of Narbonne High in Harbor City, Calif., her teams went a collective 111-10, including a perfect 34-0 1999-2000 season that earned Narbonne the mythical national championship.
Affectionately known as "Big Dog," she set school records in points, rebounds and blocks, was her league MVP three times, an All-City selection three times and an All-State selection three times. USA Today twice named her All-American and Parade named her first-team All-American in 2000.
After all this, not everything has gone the way she had hoped in her freshman campaign at USC. With an 11-15 overall record thus far, Hoffman has lost five more games than she did in her four years at Narbonne.
Ever the competitor, she cried after every game the Women of Troy lost. Even more than losing, the team's lack of chemistry added to the pain, leaving Hoffman to call this past season one of her toughest ever.
"After being on the winning side for so long, it is unbelievably hard to lose as many games as we have," Hoffman said. "I look at the future every day, and I can't wait. But I still know that for now, we have to come ready to play and be gamers."
USC coach Chris Gobrecht sees the hardships suffered by Hoffman as positives instead of negatives.
Responsible for bringing in one of the nation's top 20 recruiting classes, Gobrecht thinks maturing at an early age, rather than later in one's career, can only improve a player's outlook.
"Ebony has been the mainstay for us, has kind of held the fort down and has gotten better every single week," Gobrecht said. "What we're trying to do with her is get her to develop as much experience and be in as many tough situations as she can this year.
"As hard as it is to have to go through all of this as a freshman, it'll really benefit her in the future because she's going through it now, not waiting until she's a junior when she's that important to the team. She's having a tremendous experience all packed into one year."
Hoffman's athletic talent will give her plenty of opportunities that she is sure to take advantage during the next few years at USC, both on and off the court.
But while on the court, the future looks bright with the Big Dog in charge.

Copyright 2001 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 142, No. 38 (Wednesday, March 7, 2001), beginning on page 16 and ending on page 14.