USC Basketball: Trojans Add Seven-Footer D.J. Haley

The USC Men’s Basketball twitter account officially broke the news this morning that former VCU starting center D.J. Haley has transferred to Southern California and will be officially eligible to play this fall under head coach Andy Enfield.

Haley played at Virginia Commonwealth University for two seasons, before announcing back in March that he would forgo his basketball career to focus on academics. In three seasons under Shaka Smart, Haley played in 102 games including starting in 48 games. He averaged 2.1 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Rams “HAVOC” attack on both ends of the floor.

“This is by far the hardest decision I had to make in my life,” Haley told VCU News just after his announcement to leave the basketball team back in March, focusing on academics.

In his most recent season, before leaving the team just days before the A-10 Tournament, Haley squared off with new head coach Andy Enfield in the opening game of the season on Nov. 9th. The VCU Rams defeated Florida Gulf Coast 80-57 with Haley providing 2 points, 3 rebounds and one block in 15 minutes of action as the starting center.

With the loss of Dewayne Dedmon to the NBA, the Trojans were in need of a mobile and athletic big man to replace him on the court alongside Omar Oraby. At 7’0″, 250 pounds, the senior-to-be and Palmdale, CA native will provide the Trojans versatility and athleticism in the starting front court.

This comes at a time when the Trojans are solidifying their official roster for the 2013-2014 season opener, looming on Nov. 8th at Utah State. While Katin Reinhardt (UNLV) and Darion Clarke (Charlotte) will be forced to sit out the entire season due to transfer rules, here is the complete roster that Haley will be joining forces with on the USC campus this Fall.

22 Byron Wesley 6-5/210 Guard JR20 J.T. Terrell 6-3/185 Guard SR15 Brendyn Taylor  6-2/185 Guard SOKatin Reinhardt 6-5/210 Guard SO2 Roschon Prince 6-5/210 Forward FR- Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly)Devon Pflueger 6-6/190 Forward FR- San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (JSerra)55 Omar Oraby 7-2/270 Center SR24 Daniel Munoz 5-10/175 Guard RS SR32 Nikola Jovanovic  6-10/215 Forward FR- Belgrade, Serbia (Arlington County Day School)12 Julian Jacobs  6-3/175 Guard FR- Las Vegas, Nev. (Desert Pines)14 Strahinja Gavrilovic 6-9/225 Forward SO5 Kahlil Dukes 5-11/180 Guard FR- Hartford, Conn. (Capital Prep Magnet School)Samer Dhillon  6-7/200 Forward FR- Sacramento, Calif. (Inderkum)  (NEW WALKON)0 Darion Clark  6-7/235 Forward SO3 Chass Bryan  5-9/165 Guard SO

Andy Enfield’s staff possess six front court players eligible to suit up this season along with seven guards to complete the 13-man active roster. Looking forward, USC remains tightly in the race for five-star recruit Stanley Johnson (Mater Dei) for next years recruiting class.