Most people speculated that the only reason Percy Miller, Jr., aka Lil Romeo, even got a scholarship to USC was because he was childhood friends with current NBA player and former Trojan DeMar DeRozan. Â The rumor was always that they were a package deal and Tim Floyd wanted to guarantee DeRozan would be a Trojan, so he offered Lil Romeo a scholarship as well.
Romeo was a marginal player in high school and a super scrub at USC. Â Here are the details:
In a decision sure to disappoint opposing hecklers far more than USC basketball fans, Percy Miller is packing up his trademark aviator shades and oversized jewelry and leaving the Trojans program.
Miller, best known as rapper Lil’ Romeo, will not return for his junior season, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The 5-foot-11 point guard logged a mere 19 minutes in two years at USC, appearing in just three games last season in part due to a sprained left shoulder.
Most believe Miller received a scholarship offer to USC only because his relationship with childhood friend DeMar Derozan helped the Trojans land the future NBA lottery pick. Floyd has always refuted this, but why else would he have recruited an injury-prone 160-pound guard who averaged 8.6 points a game as a senior for tiny Beverly Hills High School.
“It’s very rare to give a scholarship to someone who may never play,” All-Star Sports recruiting director Bob Gibbons told the Wall Street Journal at the time.
If you want to add a little humor to your Friday workday, take a look at how Floyd described Percy Miller in a press release when the rapper turned point guard signed with the Trojans 2 1/2 years ago.
“He is a very unselfish point guard who plays exceptionally hard,” Floyd said. “You can’t have enough guys on your team who you think are reliable and dependable and have a tremendous upside. He is going to be playing on one of the better high schools in the area and it is always been important to us to have point guards coming in that know how to win.”
How shady is Tim Floyd? Â He makes John Calipari look like John Wooden in comparison.
No need to shed any tears for Lil Romeo, I am sure his pops Master P will have something for him to do in the future. Â By the way, whatever happened to Silkk the Shocker?