LOS ANGELES — This time, the return was underwhelming, a tiny pinprick in an underwhelming Tuesday night at the Galen Center.
When 7-foot-1 Vince Iwuchukwu played his first minutes at USC in January, it was a moment, a mini-standing ovation held at Galen for months of courage and resiliency as Iwuchukwu trotted onto the hardwood from the scorer’s table. His heart had failed just half a year earlier, and five actual minutes without racking up a single stat were irrelevant; the simple fact he was moving and active at all was a slight miracle in itself.
When he returned Tuesday against UC Irvine after months of back trouble, however, it was “bittersweet,” as Iwuchukwu put it. USC’s depth was strained to the point that 6-foot-9 Harrison Hornery was playing at the two, and the offense slumped in a rough 70-60 loss to the Anteaters. Iwuchukwu’s first minutes as a sophomore, after years of promise marred by injury, received little fanfare: four rebounds, a steal, three points in 10 minutes.
Ten minutes, though, that could prove hugely important to the rest of USC’s season. These Trojans are light on proven size behind center Joshua Morgan, who’s been steady as ever through three games; when Iwuchukwu hurt his back last year, Enfield said, “it really hurt” USC’s big-man depth.
With two of USC’s top scorers in Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson day-to-day with leg injuries for Sunday’s game against the Ivy League’s Brown, Enfield said the Trojans will have to find offense by playing big. Iwuchukwu’s role, then, becomes crucial – both against the Bears and for a consistent spot in the rotation through the rest of the slate.
“We’re trying to make it to March, we’re trying to make it deep in March, so that’s the ultimate goal – and that’s the type of player I’m trying to be,” Iwuchukwu said Thursday. “A winner.”
A year and a half removed from collapsing at a summer workout, Iwuchukwu speaks with the calm of a glassy lake when reflecting, casually sucking down energy packets after a Thursday night practice. He shrugs off a designation of that terror as trauma; nothing in his life, he says, “has ever been a trauma situation.”
It is a remarkable attitude for a sophomore in college. Iwuchukwu, though, has spent his life adapting to unfamiliar situations, maturing as the son of a military man, born in Germany and moving to various countries across the globe. He has become a young advisor of sorts, now, to freshman Bronny James, who suffered the same cardiac arrest in the same situation almost exactly a year later, collapsing during a five-on-five workout that left his program stunned.
“I was like, ‘This can’t be happening again,’” Ellis said.
Iwuchukwu, though, has seen Bronny make “great progress,” he said – already working out at USC, now seen consistently with the group at practice. Smart kid, Iwuchukwu said. Never snobby, even being the son of legendary Lakers star LeBron James.
And Iwuchukwu’s advice to James, throughout the recovery process, has been simple: Stick close to your people, because the people you were with before this happened will be the ones there for you when everything’s said and done.
“I’m kinda glad it happened to me,” Iwuchukwu said, “so I’m able to help him out, whatever situations that he has going on, because I know it’s not an easy process to get back.”
Iwuchukwu “gave us a big lift,” Enfield said, when he returned last year. He has the chance to do the same, now, as a sophomore – not just in minutes on the court, but guidance for one of the brightest young stars on campus.
“I feel like it’s a good lesson, just being able to appreciate what I have more,” Iwuchukwu said. “And everything’s a blessing, man.”
When: 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Galen Center
TV/Radio: Pac-12 Network/790 KABC
