There has been some bad blood between USC and UTEP over the past couple of months – and it seems to have boiled over on Wednesday evening.
The two teams are competing in the Battle 4 Atlantis this week, and things got ugly at the pre-tournament reception.
Ugly incident at reception for Battle 4 Atlantis. Andy Enfield & Tim Floyd got into heated argument. USC & UTEP assts had to be separated.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
USC asst Tony Bland had to be restrained from going after UTEP asst Bob Cantu. USC asst Jason Hart also in the mix.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
Enfield's wife Amanda was standing next to him as Floyd was jabbing his finger towards Enfield's chest. Big crowd watched it happen.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
Back in the summer, UTEP and USC were at the heart of the Isaac Hamilton situation. Hamilton had signed with UTEP, but asked to be release from the Miners in July. UTEP head coach Tim Floyd wouldn't release him, and sources indicated that one of the main reasons was that they suspected Andy Enfield and USC tampered with Hamilton. The five-star guard ended up going to UCLA.
Then last week, Enfield was quoted in a Men's Journal feature about Floyd.
“Tim Floyd shows up every day at work and realizes he lives in El Paso, Texas. And he's pissed off that he didn't get the USC job two months ago.”
Moreover, new UTEP assistant Bob Cantu was the interim head coach at USC after Kevin O'Neill was fired last season.
The two teams aren't scheduled to face each other at the event, but it could happen in a consolation game.