Around the World with Adam Spanich

USC will face the Oregon Ducks this weekend in McArthur Court, a 79-year old arena that ranks as one of the oldest in America. Home to decades of great basketball, it's also the site of the most spectacular game-winning shot in Trojan hoops history.

The Pit, as it's better known, is legendary for its raucous crowds and intimidating atmosphere, with four levels of fans hanging -- and screaming -- over the court. One night in early 1999, USC senior Adam Spanich capped an unfathomable come-from-behind victory by draining two three-pointers in the final 2.8 seconds of the game.

All Things Trojan caught up with Spanich this week by cellphone. Nine years after he took his last shot for the Trojans, his professional basketball career has taken him to all corners of the planet, with plenty of exotic locales and hairy border crossings. He's currently playing close(r) to home -- for the Oklahoma Cavalry -- where he still has a wicked shot from downtown. He talked about his travels, advice for younger players, and another moment that might have meant even more than his half-court miracle.

All Things Trojan: The game at Oregon in 1999 sounds like a crazy scene. The fans were heckling, you were really getting into it ... what led up to that game-winning shot near half court? Do you remember what you felt like?

Adam Spanich: We had been down between 8 and 15 points the whole game. The coaches just kept saying to us, "Listen, keep it close, we're going to make a run here at the end." I had a really good game, so the fans had been giving it to me since the warm-ups. I love going on the road and I love talking to the crowd -- especially then. I'm a little more mature now. As a younger kid, I fed off of it.

We were down by five points with about 2 1/2 seconds to go. Coach [Henry] Bibby called a timeout. He'd talked to us all year about never giving up -- we play to the last second no matter what. I hit a three in the corner, and that put us down by 2 with 0.8 left. As soon as I made the shot I ran as hard as I could back up court, just in case, maybe, we could steal a long pass. Sure enough, the guy out of bounds took the ball just and heaved it down court. When I saw him do that, I was in a pretty good position [near the half-court line]. I intercepted the ball and did the best I could to aim with 0.8 seconds.

Bibby said that was probably the best shot he'd ever seen in his career -- about 800 games. But you've had plenty of impressive shots, including another game winner to upset the undefeated Arizona Wildcats a year earlier. Of all the shots you've taken, which was your favorite?

We were down the whole game in Oregon and that was a half-court shot, which is probably a more amazing shot, but for me what stands out more is the Arizona game. At the time Arizona was the No. 1 team in the country. I had a huge shot to tie the game and send it into overtime. As soon as we got to overtime, we knew that we had a chance to win. As great as Arizona was, we knew that we had them on the ropes. No one could really compete with them that year in the Pac-10. They were dominant.

Your first three sent the game to OT. Your second won the game. Arizona was about to become the Pac-10's first undefeated team ...

They would have been! We broke that streak that day, and they only finished the season with that one conference loss. That shot, that game, was probably the most memorable. I just remember being on the bottom of the pile at the Sports Arena. It was pandemonium. It was pretty awesome!

You mentioned playing on the road. You've literally been all over the world. What are the coolest places you've been able to play?

Last year I was in the Dubai International Tournament, where all the top teams from West Asia and the Middle East come. I played my last two seasons in Lebanon for the top team in all of Asia -- Al Riyadi Sporting -- there was an international tournament with teams from Lebanon, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Those games were broadcast all over Asia.

Dubai is a really cool place to be. I did play a lot in Europe and I played in the Middle East. Being in Beirut is an experience like no other! Besides car bombs here and there, you really think you're in Los Angeles because of the palm trees and the weather.

It seems like you've played on almost every continent. Where haven't you been? South America?

I've played in Central America, but I've never made it down to South America. I've been to Europe, Asia, Australia, and obviously North America. This year I'm in the CBA. I've been well traveled, and I've been really happy with how my career has rounded out.

USC went to Mexico this year in the preseason and had to deal with tarantulas. Have you had any crazy road warrior stories?

There are so many!

I first came to Lebanon back in 2004. Because they were at war, I had to fly into Damascus, Syria, and cross the border. I remember going through the border in the middle of the night, and nobody on the bus spoke English.

There was one guy on there who said, "Well, I know a little bit of English." I remember him helping me get through customs and thinking how scary that was. Here we are in the middle of nowhere -- for all I know they could bury me in the sand and nobody would ever know!

They didn't want to let me across customs. It took them like two hours. The guy said to me, "Do you have any cash on you?" I said I did have some, and he made me give him about $100 U.S. (I had it in their local currency). They requested that money just to get through customs, and I immediately gave it to them without asking any questions.

So we got through customs ... I'm loading back on the bus, and they came out and handed the money back. They said they were basically testing me to see if I would give them problems or not. You never know [what would have happened] if I didn't give them the money.

Other than that, I've been really well protected. I've filed with the embassy whenever I'm in a foreign country, especially the Middle East. I've never been in any real danger, it's just been a lot of great experiences.

What did you learn at USC that best served you later in your pro career?

Playing for Coach Bibby is an experience like no other. He demanded the best from you. I didn't realize it at the time, but he's like a pro-style coach. That really prepared me for my career. Honestly, the coaches that I've played for professionally haven't been much different. I had some college coaches earlier in my career [before transferring to USC] that were completely different.

Coach Bibby was really hard on me. We had four or five guys transfer ever year, but for me it was really good. He just wanted you to give your best and tried to extract the most potential out of you. Some people maybe couldn't see that. Some maybe just paid attention if he said something negative to you. I took from him that he wanted the best -- to maximize your potential. I feel like when I was at USC that he did that, and now I've played professionally for nine years.

You're currently playing with the Oklahoma Cavalry. What are your goals now? Do you have a plan from here?

I just turned 31 years old and my body is still in tremendous shape. One reason why I'm playing in the CBA is my wife. We just built a house in Tulsa, and she's getting her masters in social work. We really didn't want to go away this year, we wanted to stay close. This team is about three hours from Tulsa, but it's here in the country. I thought this would be a good opportunity to still be close and play at a high level in a good league. I'm playing for Michael Ray Richardson, who's a five-time NBA all-star. The president of our team is Otis Birdsong, who's another five-time NBA all-star. I was just talking with Otis today, and the insight and knowledge that they have as former professionals is really valuable.

My goal obviously is to play in the next level -- maybe get a shot to play in the NBA. Whatever it may be, I've come to grips with the fact that I can only take care of myself. I do my job on the court, do what they say, be professional, and just learn what I can from them because they have quite a bit of knowledge.

There's a lot of talk about guys on USC's team -- O.J. Mayo, Davon Jefferson -- going pro. All over, there are lots of teenage kids thinking about the NBA. Do you have any advice for them?

The best advice I can give them is to surround yourself with good people. You can't hang around the same people you've always hung around your whole life. When you get to the NBA or make some money, your life is going to change.

Kids nowadays, and even when I was growing up in high school, are spoiled. They're told that they're great. A lot of kids go in the tank and they're hard-headed. They don't want to learn anything. When a coach tells you something, maybe don't pay attention to the tone and how they're saying it, but really try and listen to them! I was hard-headed at a younger age, but the things that I was able to take in and learn really helped me on the next level. Obviously I'm not as talented as someone like an O.J. Mayo, but I've maximized my potential because I've taken care of my body, listened to the people who are in charge, and just tried to be professional.

Note: Thanks to Danny Page for asking, "Do you remember this famous Trojans-Ducks game at The Pit?" If anybody else is wondering what their favorite Trojans are up to these days, e-mail adam@laist.com.

Photos courtesy USC Athletics.

Comments

[Chris]

Great article! I still have the videos of both those shots. I was one of the idiot fans on the court after the game. Adam was still on the floor when I got down there (from the Loge section). It was crazy. That game was just building and building in intensity. When he hit the shot, everybody went nuts.

The Oregon game was great too, but I only saw it on TV. I remember cracking to my wife, "all they need now is a five point shot." My head almost hit the ceiling when he made six. Another thing I recall about that game was that SC was down a lot more than five near the end. I don't remeber the specifics, but I do recall that Ernie Kent srewed that game up.

I'm glad to hear Adam has had a great career and enjoyed his experience.

[jerry]

thanks for the article...a real trooper playing around the world in places like Dubai.