NCAA Tournament run ends with Enfield at USC

LOS ANGELES — Southern California hired Andy Enfield as men’s basketball coach on Monday night after he took Florida Gulf Coast to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Athletic Director Pat Haden said Enfield has reached an agreement to take over at the Pacific-12 school. He will be introduced Wednesday.

Haden said Enfield’s success at Florida Gulf Coast wasn’t a flash in the pan and that his up-tempo style and stingy defense will be fun for both the Trojans players and fans.

“In meeting with Pat Haden, I was very impressed with his vision for the men’s basketball program,” Enfield said in a statement. “I am looking forward to bringing an exciting, up-tempo style of play to USC and building the men’s basketball brand into one that the fans and basketball community will enjoy and respect.”

The 43-year-old coach was 41-28 in his only two seasons as a head coach at the Fort Myers, Fla., school. He led the Eagles to a school-record 26 victories this season, including upsets of No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State as a 15th-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They lost to Florida on Friday.

Enfield’s team earned the nickname “Dunk City” for its dunks and alley-oops. The Eagles scored 70 or more points 25 times this season, and ranked 16th nationally in steals with 8.9 per game.

They won the Atlantic Sun Tournament, and had the league’s player of the year in Sherwood Brown and defensive player of the year in Bernard Thompson.

Enfield takes over from interim coach Bob Cantu, who had a 7-8 record after succeeding Kevin O’Neill, who was fired in mid-January.

O’Neill had a 48-65 record during 3½ years at the private school known primarily for its powerful football program after going 6-26 last year while setting a USC record for losses.