Bibby Thinks Day May Not Return

At Pacific 10 Conference basketball media day in November, Coach Henry Bibby mistakenly referred to freshman point guard Quinton Day as “Quincy” Day.

With USC about to begin Pac-10 play, Bibby might not have to remember any name associated with Day. The young player has yet to return from Kansas City after going home for Christmas and Bibby is not sure if Day will ever return to the Trojans.

“Whoever wanted to come back, would have come back,” a terse Bibby said Tuesday afternoon at Heritage Hall. “Whoever’s not back, chose not to come back.

“I want guys who want to be here. I need guys who want to go to school ... to class every day. I need guys who have a passion for being at USC, that’s what I need. And if that doesn’t fit the bill, I don’t want anybody coming back.

“I need commitment. I need accountability. I need responsibility. That’s what I need here. It’s not a free ride. It’s not a social gathering for a year. It’s business.”

A day before the Trojans’ victory Sunday over Lafayette, Bibby was asked if everyone had returned from the holiday and if everyone would be at the game. Bibby said they would, despite Day’s still being absent.

“He was supposed to have been on his way back,” Bibby said.

Day, a two-time Kansas City high school player of the year, seemed to struggle with being a role player at USC, where he has scored six points in six games while averaging 5.3 minutes.

Bibby first explained Day’s absence from the Lafayette game as “personal reasons” back home. Teammates had said that Day, who also missed the Trojans’ post-Thanksgiving game against Cal State Northridge on Nov. 30, after his cell phone had rung in a team meeting, had been dealing with homesickness.

*

Senior guard Roy Smiley underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday and Bibby left open the possibility of Smiley’s taking a medical redshirt season and returning next fall.