USC coach Andy Enfield receives contract extension through 2027-28 season

Andy Enfield isn’t going anywhere.

After the coach followed an extraordinary Elite Eight run with the winningest regular season in school history, USC left no doubt about its desire to continue that course with Enfield, inking him to an extension through the 2027-28 season.

The new deal will keep Enfield in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future, just as other potential suitors began to express interest in the USC coach.

"Andy has continued to meet and exceed every expectation we have set for him,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement. “In our three years working together, our men's basketball program has enjoyed unprecedented success and the national landscape of college basketball has taken notice. That is a testament to Andy's leadership of the program, our coaches and support staff, and our talented basketball players. Andy's incredible accomplishments stand on their own.”

Those triumphs continued this season, as USC won 25 regular-season games, the most in school history. In his ninth year as coach, Enfield has 182 wins, the most for any coach at USC since Bob Boyd, who left in 1979. Only two high-major schools (Kansas and Baylor) have won more college basketball games than USC during the last three seasons.

After enduring a difficult start at USC, with just 23 wins over his first two years, Enfield has a historically rocky basketball program standing on its most stable ground in decades. The Trojans won 21 or more games in six of his past seven seasons, even adding Pac-12 coach of the year honors to his resume in 2021. His follow-up this season was arguably even better, as USC was tasked with replacing top-three NBA draft pick Evan Mobley and still proceeded to put together the best regular season in school history (25-6).

“I think the trajectory of this program will continue to keep going,” Enfield said last week after USC’s loss to Arizona. “Going to the Elite Eight last year for the second time in 67 years at USC, I think people are starting to realize, ‘Hey, this is fun to go to two hours at the Galen Center.’ So we’re very appreciative and I think we can continue to build this thing and grow.”

The pursuit of another postseason run begins Thursday, as USC opens Pac-12 tournament play against Washington, with a chance to prove itself again on a big stage in March. In spite of his impressive NCAA credentials, Enfield has never won the conference tournament as USC's coach — and only once has he reached the finals. But Enfield has also never had a team with the experience of his current group, which saw firsthand last season what's required to survive in March.

"We expect to win. Just like we’ve won a lot of games this year," Enfield said Tuesday. "You’re coming off an Elite Eight run last season. Our players are hungry to get back there. They know what it takes. They’ve been there."

Enfield’s contract was first extended through the 2025-26 season following that Elite Eight run, USC's first trip that deep into the tournament since 2001. His latest extension, which Bohn referred to as “a new six-year contract,” includes a raise in salary, though the terms of Enfield’s new deal were not disclosed.

Two extensions within a single year certainly sends a message.

"My family and I are very happy to be part of the Trojan Family," Enfield said in a statement. "I feel great about the future of USC basketball in the Pac-12 and nationally."

Rumors swirled in recent weeks that Enfield would consider other college coaching jobs if an ideal one emerged. The opening at Maryland appeared a particularly good fit for Enfield, who grew up less than two hours away and completed his MBA in College Park.

But USC didn’t let that speculation get far. Instead, Bohn preempted the possibility of losing the coach, which would’ve meant another uphill climb for a program currently on its best trajectory in years.

The Trojans aren't exactly soaring into the postseason. Losses last week to UCLA and Arizona left USC with plenty to answer this week in Las Vegas.

But any concerns about losing its coach were quelled on Wednesday, just as USC set off on what it hopes will be another March run to remember.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.