Dunk City is coming to USC.

Just two days after UCLA hired Steve Alford as its new coach, crosstown rival USC answered by hiring Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield.

Enfield reportedly agreed to a six-year deal worth approximately $1.5 million annually. He was making $152,000 at Florida Gulf Coast.

The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of SI.com.

“Andy has been successful in every area of his life,” USC AD Pat Haden said. “He has been a success on the court as a record-setting player, in the classroom as an Academic All-American, in the corporate world with successful businesses, in his personal life as a husband and father, as an NBA assistant and shooting coach, as a collegiate assistant at Florida State and most recently as a head coach with his Sweet Sixteen team at Florida Gulf Coast.”

Said Enfield: “My family and I are thrilled to join the Trojan Family and be part of the unparalleled athletic tradition at USC. In meeting with Pat Haden, I was very impressed with his vision for the men’s basketball program. 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.”

Enfield’s Florida Gulf Coast team captivated the nation last week when it became known as “Dunk City” and became the first-ever No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16, knocking off Georgetown and San Diego State before falling to Florida in the Sweet 16.

Enfield, a former NBA and Florida State assistant who is married to the former supermodel Amanda Marcum, did not pick up his cell phone Monday night when called.

He replaces former USC coach Kevin O’Neill, who was fired after a 7-10 start. Assistant Bob Cantu coached the team on an interim basis.

“I’m not going to comment or speculate on anything,” Enfield told The News-Press last week. “I understand speculation is part of the business.

“Every time you have success in the business, it’s natural to be (discussed as a coaching candidate)…My personal life and my family’s personal life has been under scrutiny the last week, week-and-a-half.”

Enfield just concluded the second year of his five-year contract that paid him $152,500 this season, The News-Press reported. Multiple news outlets in Southwest Florida have reported that FGCU was looking to greatly increase Enfield’s salary for the third year of his deal.

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“Tore my ACL,” the former St. Anthony star told SNY.tv by text.

Typical recovery from an ACL tear is at least 4-6 months.

The senior guard from Paterson, N.J., flew back to the U.S. Wednesday from Brazil after injuring the knee during the second quarter of USC’s 81-70 loss to Mogi das Cruzes on Tuesday in Sao Paulo.

Fontan transferred from Fordham and became eligible mid-semester last season, averaging 10.5 points and 3. 9 assists over 24 games.

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“Hoping my knee isnt that bad smh,trying to stay positive and not stress,” Fontan Tweeted Thursday.

The former St. Anthony star flew back to the U.S. Wednesday from Brazil after injuring the knee during the second quarter of USC’s 81-70 loss to Mogi das Cruzes on Tuesday in Sao Paulo.

USC is calling the injury a sprain.

Baxter Holmes, who covers USC for the Los Angeles Times, Tweeted, “Just asked USC Coach Kevin O’Neill how bad Jio Fontan’s knee injury is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the worst. His answer: ‘Ten.’”

A call to Fontan’s father, Jorge, was not immediately returned Thursday.

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“Effective immediately, I am reinstating Kevin O’Neill as our men’s basketball head coach,” USC AD Pat Haden said in a statement. “Coach O’Neill and I have talked numerous times these past few days. He has continued to express his regret and embarrassment over the incident that led to his suspension from any remaining games of the Pac-10 Conference Tournament.

“… Further, he understands that he let them down as their role model and leader. He has apologized to his team, as well as to me, our administration, our fans and the Pac-10.”

Various reports indicated O’Neill and his wife, Roberta, got involved in a verbal altercation with an Arizona booster, Paul Weitman, in the lobby of the JW Marriot in Los Angeles Thursday night.

“I’m excited to be back coaching the Trojans and I am looking forward to the postseason,” O’Neill said. “This is a special team and we have shown that we can compete with anyone in the country.

“But I temper my excitement of being reinstated with the realization that I made a serious error in judgment the other night. The disciplinary measures that Pat Haden took, including the suspension, were absolutely the right call. My wife, Roberta, and I are both very apologetic for the embarrassment we caused the Trojan Family. We vow to move forward in a positive manner.”

Under assistant coach Bob Cantu, USC lost to Arizona, 67-62, in the Pac-10 semifinals Friday night. The Trojans await word on an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

“It was a difficult lesson for Coach O’Neill,” Haden said. “I believe the suspension served its purpose and will eliminate any such inappropriate behavior by Coach O’Neill in the future. Although he has been reinstated, Coach O’Neill knows that he still faces additional institutional discipline and a fine.”

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With Fontan set to make his debut Saturday for Southern Cal (6-4) against Taylor and No. 3 Kansas (9-0) at Allen Field House (noon, ESPN), the chatter is running high between the two old friends and former St. Anthony teammates.

“I told him that’s a terrible place for him to come back,” cracked Taylor, Kansas’ junior point guard from Hoboken, N.J.

Said Fontan: “I’ve been calling him telling him how we’re going to beat them and he’s been calling me telling me how they’re going to blow us out.”

Fontan and Taylor were teammates under Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley on the 2008 St. Anthony team that went undefeated, won a mythical national championship and produced six current Division 1 players, including Florida’s Mike Rosario, Pittsburgh’s Travon Woodall and Villanova’s Dominic Cheek.

While most of the hoopla surrounding the game will focus on heralded Kansas freshman Josh Selby, who makes his debut after sitting out an NCAA-mandated nine games for accepting impermissible benefits, Fontan will make his own debut after sitting out a year following his transfer from Fordham.

“I’m real excited,” Fontan, a Paterson, N.J. native, said by phone. “It’s been a year and 13 days since I played in my last college game. I want to finally put the Trojan jersey on and finally get going.”

The 6-foot, 175-pound Fontan made the A-10 All-Rookie team as a freshman in 2009 (15.3 ppg, 4.7 apg) and averaged 15.0 points per game in five games last season at Fordham.

“I haven’t really seen him play in a while and I talk to him almost every day,” said the 6-3 Taylor, who visited Fontan in Los Angeles for a week last May. “I’m excited for him. I’m real excited for him.”

Ironically, neither Taylor nor Fontan ended up at the school to which they first committed out of St. Anthony.

Taylor initially signed a Letter of Intent to play for Marquette and then-coach Tom Crean. But after Crean left to take the Indiana job, Taylor sought his release and Hurley spoke up strongly in his defense.

“This thing of a National Letter of Intent binding a minor is absolutely ridiculous,” Hurley said in April 2008.

Taylor ultimately landed at Kansas, which should be a Final Four contender once Selby arrives.

When Fontan expressed his desire to leave Fordham after his freshman season and again midway through last year because of the uncertain coaching situation (Derrick Whittenburg was fired last December and replaced on an interim basis by Jared Grasso), Hurley did not believe it was a good idea. He thought Fontan should keep his commitment to Fordham, at least through the remainder of the season.

“I think they [Fordham] are on the verge of being much better next year,” Hurley said in April 2009. “He may be rushing the thing. He should give the school another year. The whole world is filled with everybody rushing to do things. Part of growing is battling through situations. My advice was stay one more year.”

Said Taylor: “Coach Hurley really didn’t want him to leave  because when nobody was looking at Jio and nobody was paying attention to him, Fordham stuck by him. And I think Coach Hurley thought Jio should do the same for them.”

By transferring mid-season, Fontan lost a year of eligibility and will only have one and a half years left.

He said he remains in contact with his old friends and teammates at Fordham, and took note when the Tom Pecora-coached Rams recently upset Steve Lavin and St. John’s at Rose Hill Gym.

“I’m happy where I am, but I’m happy for the younger guys [at Fordham],” Fontan said. “[Branden] Frazier is doing a good job. He’s only a freshman and he’s doing really well. Chris [Gaston] has just been Chris. I’m happy for all those guys.”

Still, he sounds refreshed and happy with his decision. He hits the weight room four times a week for an hour at a time, working on both upper and lower body exercises.

“I’ve working a lot harder individually,” Fontan said. “People think I should be resting . I’ve been putting more work in the weight room as the games get closer. I think it’s worked in my favor. When I practice I feel I have more stamina.”

Fontan, the engine who drove St. Anthony’s undefeated team, said head coach Kevin O’Neill told him he would start at shooting guard alongside freshman point guard Maurice Jones.

“Coach said I’ll start from this point on out for the rest of the season,” Fontan said. “I don’t know exactly who’s not going to start. It’s looking mostly likely I’ll be starting at the two and playing some one when Mo comes out the game.”

Whatever the case, Fontan and Taylor could well match up come Saturday. Let the smack talk fly.

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“I don’t know,” said Taylor, who was waiting to meet Friday with Daniels and his father. “I have to talk to his dad.”

Taylor said Daniels, who appears to be reclassifying to 2010 from 2011, will visit the California schools this weekend “because they’re both local.”

Taylor said Kentucky and Texas were also involved, but wasn’t sure who else the family was considering. Daniels recently decommitted from Texas.

The 6-foot-8, 180-pound Daniels is ranked the No. 3 shooting guard in the Class of 2011 by Rivals, and Taylor compared him to a young Scottie Pippen.

“I think he has a chance be an impact player,” Taylor said. “He’s improving as fast as anybody I’ve ever seen. Year to year he’s making gigantic leaps. He still  has much more to go because  he has a thin, young body. He shoots it well. He’s very skilled. He can handle, he can pass it. He’s a big, big rebounder. He rebounds very well. He’s a shot-blocker because he’s so long.

“I call him a poor man’s Scottie Pippen-type. He’s long and rangy on the wing and he’ll defend it. He’s a willing defender.”

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The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Carson out of Mesa (Az.) High said he plans to take officials to Arizona, Washington, Oregon State and St. John’s.

He plans to leave one official open and said he would probably take it to Alabama or North Carolina.

He has already visited UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State unofficially.

Other schools in the mix are Oregon, Washington State and USC.

“I’m going to try and narrow it down to five [officials] and right before the signing period ends make my decision,” Carson, the No. 10 point guard in the nation, said by phone after scoring 22 points for USA Midwest at the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, Ore.

Carson is one of several West Coast players new St. John’s coach Steve Lavin is targeting, and Carson is interested in what the Johnnies have to offer.

“I talked to him a couple times,” Carson said. “I know he was at UCLA. I’m trying to build a nice relationship with him. They’re a historic university. I’m looking to get down there and see how things are going. I’m gonna try and get down there and take my time and talk to the players.”

Wherever he lands, Carson wants to bring an uptempo style to the point guard spot.

“I’m gonna try and bring an uptempo style,” he said. “I like to push the ball and play pressure defense. That’s the type of style I like to bring.”

(Photo courtesy Kelly Kline/Nike)

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NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. —

With guards Nick Johnson,  Josiah Turner and Jabari Brown and 6-9 bigs Kyle Wiltjer and Brandon Ashley (2012), the Soldiers drew everyone from Roy Williams to Gary Williams to Ben Howland at last week’s Peach Jam.

“Before the game I notice who’s in the building. But when the game starts, I’m all about the game,” Wiltjer said.

Wiltjer missed at least one game at the Peach Jam with painful migraine headaches that forced him to visit the emergency room.

“Usually I just sleep it off,” said Wiltjer, a Portland, Ore. native. “But I got dehydrated because I threw up a couple times. So I had to go to the doctor and get IV’s and stuff.

“It’s like one of the most painful things I’ve had to…I mean, it’s worse than a basketball injury because I can’t see anything.”

Wiltjer has to avoid hot dogs and processed meats to avoid the migraines, but thinks the heat may have triggered this one.

As far as schools, the No. 4 power forward in the nation is looking at a ton of high-academic progams such as Kansas, Gonzaga, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, USC, Stanford, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Texas.

“Pretty much everyone’s equal right now,” he said.

Wiltjer said he plans to narrow his list after the July evaluation period.

Ashley, an Oakland native, is the No. 1 power forward in the Class of 2012 and lists several Pac-12 schools.

“I have offers from UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Washington and Stanford,” he said.

“I can’t say I have any favorites right now.”

Ashley said the list will probably “end up growing and then I’ll end up cutting it down later in my junior year.”

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“It’s a little weird because as far as basketball-wise, things went pretty decent I guess. Of course we’d rather have no sanctions at all. But we understand we did wrong and we know we had to have some penalties,” Fontan, the Paterson, N.J. native and former St. Anthony star who transferred to USC from Fordham, said late Thursday night during a phone interview.

In January, USC implemented self-imposed sanctions on the basketball team in the wake of the O.J. Mayo scandal, but no additional penalties were levied Thursday.

Fontan said he and his teammates learned the good news during a Thursday afternoon meeting with second-year coach Kevin O’Neill.

“I applaud them on realizing self-imposing was our way of saying, ‘You know what, we did make some mistakes along the way and what we better do is be vigilant in our efforts,’ which we will,” O’Neill said on campus.

As part of its self-imposed punishment, USC will return to the NCAA the money it received through the Pac-10 for playing in the 2008 NCAA tournament, when the Trojans lost in the first round.

The Trojans lost one scholarship for last season and one for next season; they lost one coach to off-campus recruiting this summer; and lose 20 recruiting days for next season.

USC also vacated its 21 victories during the 2007-08 season, when Mayo competed while ineligible.

Those penalties pale in comparison to what the NCAA handed down to the football team Thursday in the wake of the Reggie Bush situation.

The NCAA banned the football team from bowl games for two years, took away 30 scholarships and placed the school on four years’ probation for improper benefits to Bush, the Heisman Trophy-winning running back.

“The sanctions they had were in my opinion a little harsher than what we expected,” Fontan said. “A lot of people are down because they know that this year we really expected to compete with [quarterback] Matt Barkley coming back for his sophomore year. He’s been having a real good summer. And then you got Brice Butler is looking real good, and a couple of the freshmen.

“So everyone is just hoping that the appeal goes well and we get some of those sanctions taken away.”

As far as basketball, Fontan said he gained new respect for last year’s seniors because they played without hope of a postseason bid.

“I paid a lot of homage to the guys last year because they made it through the season knowing there was no postseason,” he said. “It’s hard to stay motivated and work hard every day and go to practice knowing you can’t achieve a Pac-10 championship or a tournament championship or get to the NCAA, which everybody is dreaming.”

Fontan himself becomes eligible in mid-December after the transfer — perhaps in time to play former St. Anthony teammate Tyshawn Taylor and Kansas Dec. 18 at Allen Fieldhouse.

He said he and his teammates are motivated to start anew in the wake of the good news.

“It was definitely motivating and definitely uplifting,” he said.

FREE THROWS

Former Hofstra player Chaz Williams is transferring to UMass after an official visit this week…Playaz coach Jerome Smart is the new head coach at Teaneck (NJ) High School. Smart, a special ed teacher at the school, succeeds retired coach Curtis March..Monmouth forward Travis Taylor will visit Seton Hall Saturday and Boston College on Sunday and Monday

(The AP contributed)

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By ALEX KLINE

Shabazz Muhammad, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Bishop Gorman in Nevada, has picked up another offer. This one is from the national champion Duke Blue Devils. Muhammad, who reclassified from the 2011 class into 2012, is ranked 8^th in the country in that class by Rivals.com.

About a week ago, the sophomore predicted Duke would offer him soon. As of now, his offers include “Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Louisville, Kansas, Kentucky, USC, Texas, and Memphis.”

**UPDATE: Muhammad expects to get a formal offer from North Carolina in mid-June, per sources.

Rodney Purvis ’13, a 6-3 point guard from Upper Room Christian in North Carolina, is making a big name for himself on the court this spring. Purvis, who is arguably one of the top prospects in his class, already has offers from North Carolina Central, VCU, and Xavier.  On Monday, the freshman landed his biggest offer yet.

“Coach [Jerome] Tang and Baylor just offered me”, proclaimed an excited Purvis. Along with the four offers, Rodney is garnering interest from, “Tennessee, Baylor, Xavier, Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Ohio State and Texas.” An x-factor in this young man’s recruitment may be Kentucky superstar John Wall. The two are very close and Wall is Purvis’ role model.

Alex Murphy ’12, a 6-foot-8 power forward from St. Mark’s in Massachusetts, took advantage of playing in the Bob Gibbons TOC down in North Carolina this weekend. Not only did Murphy and the New England Playaz finish the weekend 5-1, but Murphy was able to take an unofficial visit to Duke Monday, where he picked up a scholarship offer. Murphy, who holds 18 offers, is being recruited all over the country.

Xavier Johnson ’12, a 6-foot-6 small forward from Chaparral in California, just came back from Adidas Nations and is a hot commodity on both coasts. Johnson, who is being heavily by schools on both the East and West coast, possesses offers from, “USC, UCLA, and San Diego State.” The other schools targeting him are, “UNLV, Georgetown, Stanford, Arizona State, Syracuse, Texas, and Washington.” Look for Johnson’s recruiting to increase this summer.

Peter Jurkin ’12, a 7-foot center from United Faith Christian Academy in North Carolina, is developing into a big threat down low. Jurkin, who is originally from the Sudan, has three offers so far from, “Clemson, Indiana, and South Carolina.” As his production grows, watch out for many more teams to jump in and snag this beast.

Kevin Johnson ’11, a 6-foot-8 center from Taft in California, is down to four schools. Johnson’s final four include, “USC, Kentucky, Illinois, and Boston College.” Johnson, one of the top 150 players in the country, according to Rivals.com, is, “going to take the process slow.” We will see if any other schools jump in as it is still quite early.

J-Mychal Reese ’12, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard from Bryan in Texas, has a list of nine schools. Reese lists, “Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Villanova, UConn, and Memphis,” as his schools. Other than some camps, Reese plans to take his recruiting slowly and see how everything goes this summer.

Michigan redshirt junior Anthony Wright will graduate from Michigan this week but has decided to apply for a fifth year of eligibility and to transfer.

“I’m transferring,” he said. “They wouldn’t grant my fifth year so I’m getting looks from schools now and D1 schools, too, because I’m graduating in 3 weeks.”

Wright, who played for Coach Steve Smith at Oak Hill, says he will, “take an unofficial visit to Toledo on Friday.” Wright came off the bench for the Wolverines this year and averaged 1.4 points per game and 1.1 rebounds per game.