LOS ANGELES — The moment still overwhelms Desmon Farmer, 19 years and 11 months later, the crowd of thousands at an arena that no longer exists assembling for one final ode to him.
Back in his USC heyday, Farmer, once a sparkplug lead scorer for early 2000s Trojans teams that have long faded to history, was known for the yellow headband he sported while he played. So on his senior night against UCLA in February 2004, the entire USC student section stood decked out in headbands. Screaming. This was a dead period in Southern California collegiate basketball, the inklings of Ben Howland’s revitalization of a legendary UCLA program and long before Andy Enfield righted the ship at USC – and still, Los Angeles came out en masse for Farmer’s final home game.
Heck, USC athletic director Mike Garrett, Farmer remembered, came and sat in the front row with a headband around his head.
“It just, it was mind-blowing,” Farmer said on Friday, recalling an eventual overtime victory over UCLA in which he scored 28 points. “I didn’t expect it – it was shocking. And I’m always a Trojan.”
Rebuilds commenced, from that moment. UCLA transformed back into a national power. USC rebuilt itself into more than a football school. It was the last time – for 20 years – when both USC and UCLA entered a time-honored crosstown rivalry with sub-.500 records.
Until now.
“I’m not gonna comment on that,” Enfield said after Thursday’s practice. “I don’t want to be associated with saying, it’s the first game in 20 years.”
Understandable. And yet, here is reality: USC (8-11 overall, 2-6 Pac-12) and UCLA (8-11, 3-5) are in the midst of resoundingly disappointing seasons at the bottom of the conference, beset by injuries and mismatched puzzle pieces and facing each other with losing records for the first time since Farmer’s senior night. The Trojans’ two best players, Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis, are hurt. The Bruins have had such a tumultuous season developing youth that Coach Mick Cronin has repeatedly turned existential about the changing dynamics of society: “Everyone just wants to lawnmower all their issues,” he said Thursday morning, “and never have to deal with any adversity.”
But it’s all no difference, at the end of the day. Not to this rivalry. Not the people of Los Angeles. Tickets for Saturday’s 5 p.m. game at the Galen Center were officially sold out by Monday. As Farmer himself said, reflecting to the last time both these programs were struggling so mightily: The records of both teams don’t even really matter.
And Saturday is a chance to sift through the rubble to see what can be salvaged from lost seasons. Every time he’s seen UCLA play this season, Enfield said Thursday, “they played very well” – a statement that sounds odd when staring at their 90-44 loss to Utah on Jan. 11, but makes more sense considering their last three-game stretch (2-1). Sophomore big man Adem Bona has often been a monster presence in the paint and 6-foot-7 junior Lazar Stefanovic’s jumper is starting to fall with regularity; UCLA led Arizona by 17 in the first half last Saturday before eventually falling.
“To do that, at Arizona, means they’re a good team,” Enfield said.
The Trojans, meanwhile, have treaded water in January since Collier injured his hand and Ellis tweaked his hamstring, reserve ballhandlers tested and piling up turnovers in their absence. Ellis wasn’t a full participant in practice earlier this week, but he looked to be moving well in simply walking around on Thursday, and is a game-time decision for Saturday. Not to Cronin, though, who has been preparing UCLA for his return.
“He’s a Bruin killer,” Cronin said Thursday of Ellis, who dropped 31 in a victory over UCLA last year. “Basket gets real big when he sees the four letters playing against him.”
Stakes, larger than an ugly combined record, lord over this game. A rivalry win would provide a natural emotional lift for a late-season run through a wide-open Pac-12; a loss would turn up the public fire under the head coach’s chair and cripple any remaining shred of season momentum.
“I think we owe it to ourselves,” USC center Joshua Morgan said Thursday. “But most important, we owe it to our students, staff, teachers, everybody and even the alumni who come.”
UCLA (8-11, 3-5) AT USC (8-11, 2-6)
When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Where: Galen Center
TV/Radio: ESPN2, 570 AM, 790 AM