BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP

LAIE, Hawaii —  It appears the season-long nightmare for idled USC guard Jeff Trepagnier is, at last, reaching a conclusion.

Trepagnier, who has not played this season--sitting out the first three games because of a foot injury and the rest after being suspended by Coach Henry Bibby during an NCAA investigation--can point to next Saturday’s game against Long Beach State for his return.

“It’s not official yet,” Tim Tessalone, USC’s sports information director, said Friday from Los Angeles. “But we’re very hopeful now that is the date. That seems to be the way the process is evolving.”

Tessalone added that Trepagnier would not play in the Trojans’ remaining games in Hawaii, or USC’s game at Northwestern on Wednesday.

Trepagnier has been in trouble with NCAA officials since taking a September trip to Las Vegas with his friend Tito Maddox, a Fresno State guard. The plane tickets reportedly were purchased by a friend of Maddox’s who allegedly is a representative for a professional sports agent.

Maddox wound up serving an eight-game suspension and had to pay for the ticket.

Trepagnier, who was interviewed by NCAA officials on the USC campus two weeks ago, had expected to be cleared by now.

Tessalone said he could not comment on why the NCAA has taken longer on the Trepagnier investigation.

But sources close to the investigation indicated the NCAA was looking into an expensive vehicle Trepagnier reportedly was seen driving and was trying to determine if there were violations there.

Trepagnier could not be reached for comment Friday. Bibby said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Even with their 8-0 record and national ranking, the No. 13 Trojans welcomed the news about Trepagnier going into Friday night’s semifinal game against 24th-ranked Mississippi at the Yahoo! Sports Invitational holiday tournament.

“I was kind of expecting Jeff [Friday],” David Bluthenthal said. “But I guess we’ll have to go a few more games without him. And knowing he should be back [for] Pac-10 [games] is really good for us.”

But the Trojans also are careful about getting their hopes up.

“We need Jeff back. We need him a lot,” Sam Clancy said. “Defensively, he brings a lot of things to the table with his athleticism, and he shares in the rebounding. But you never know what the NCAA is going to do or what’s really going on.

“We’ve just got to continue to play well. Whenever we get him back, it will be great for the team.”

Brandon Granville was the most guarded in his reaction.

“I’m not expecting him back any time soon. Not until I see him in uniform,” Granville said. “There’s been so much speculation about when he is coming back. He was supposed to be back before this tournament. He was supposed to be back for this tournament, but there were other things he had to do.

“When he does come back, we will welcome him.”

Granville said the Trojans have been able to keep Trepagnier’s situation from becoming a distraction.

“It’s not like he played a couple games and he was out. We haven’t had him all year,” Granville said. “Desmon Farmer has stepped in pretty well for Jeff. So it hasn’t been a problem yet.”

A victory over Mississippi (10-0), in a game that ended after The Times went to press Friday, would put the Trojans into the tournament championship game tonight at 7 PST against Iowa State.

A loss would drop the Trojans into the third-place game at 5 p.m. against BYU.

Mississippi is the second ranked team USC has played this season. The Trojans defeated then-No. 18 Utah at the Wooden Classic.

*

The USC game against Mississippi finished after The Times went to press. For the game story, go to http://161.35.110.226/usc