Five head coaches is a lot of coaches. It's different systems, it's positions within systems and a whole lot of X's and O's.
Add in about 3,500 miles and three different schools and USC senior guard J.T. Terrell has been forever adapting throughout his entire college career.
So when new Trojans' head coach Andy Enfield brought his "Dunk City" style to Troy in April, it was nothing out of the ordinary for Terrell; just simply another system.
Business as usual.
"Learning is learning," Terrell said. "Some people pick it up fast and some people pick it up a little slower than that but so far, it's been easy."
Before Terrell became a basketball chameleon, he was a prized recruit for Dino Gaudio's last recruiting class at Wake Forest before the school fired him in a surprising move.
By all accounts, the program was back on the upswing as it had been under Prosser. Gaudio had just landed a top-10 recruiting class of which Terrell was one of the stars. He did, in fact, star for the Demon Deacons, averaging 11.1 points per game and dishing out 51 assists.
In his breakout game, Terrell scored 32 points at Iowa and drained a game-winner with just two seconds left. He set a school record for 3-pointers made by a freshman and his future looked brighter than ever in Winston Salem.
But it was a tumultuous season for the entire team. And Terrell's star was dimming as attitude issues and immature playing didn't go unnoticed.
"I would say you can kind of get frustrated at times, just not knowing what's going to happen next," Terrell said.
The frustration boiled over before his sophomore season when he was arrested on charges of driving while impaired in a scary accident that left him unconscious behind the wheel.
His time at Wake Forest had come to an end.
He found his way to Peninsula Junior College across the country in Port Angeles, Wash. He made things right in his life and it paid off, as he became the No. 1 ranked junior college player in the country and signed with USC early.
But then, in the middle of last season head coach Kevin O'Neill was fired. Assistant Bob Cantu took over.
More coaches to add to the growing list for Terrell.
"Each coach has been very different," Terrell said. "There's been a lot of relationship building. But I can say that it helped make me a better person, taking knowledge in from each and every last head coach that I've ever had."
Terrell has not only learned more about his game with every stop, but also learned more about himself. He helped the Trojans weather the storm last season, and even surprising himself with his leadership qualities.
"I would say each of them showed me something different about myself," Terrell said. "I was new to the team so I don't think I had as much rank as I do now but I think I was sort of a younger leader on the team last year."
"I'm very impressed with his positive attitude and how he’s encouraging his teammates,” Enfield said. “And also, how he’s very unselfish on the basketball floor.”
On the hardwood, Terrell is still the threat he was at Wake Forest – if not more of one now – but off the court he's everything he wasn't before.
It's been a long road for Terrell, but he now realizes just how far he has come.
"I wake up every morning and say that," Terrell said. "I feel like I'm here for a reason and like I went through that windy road for a reason."
