Scott Cross’ first Trojan team has been schooled in defense, conditioning and hard work. He talks about cultivating a “blue-collar” work ethic. It is not coincidence that the first player he mentioned likely isn’t going to lead the Trojans in scoring or rebounding.

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“We have a guy, Nick Stampley, that’s a power forward,” Cross said. “If you ranked our guys 1 through 14, he’s not going to be in the top 8 or 9 in terms of just raw talent, but he’s a guy that will play 25 or 30 minutes a game for us.