THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL A HALL OF AN OMISSION.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

History was made at USC's still-spanking-new Galen Center on Saturday night, by those who've made their mark on Trojans history.

Twenty-four more names were inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in a black-tie bash. That brings the total number of honorees to -- don't blink -- 182.

The class of 2007 includes some impressive names with worthy credentials.

Start with Sam Barry, who has the distinction of being the winningest basketball coach in USC history -- which some might guess wasn't too difficult an achievement. Barry was 260-138 in 17 seasons during a run between 1930 and 1950 that included 32 consecutive wins over UCLA. Barry, a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, overlapped duties as the USC baseball coach for 11 years, winning six league titles from 1930-41, then adding Rod Dedeaux as a co-coach and leading the team to the 1948 national title. Consider that Barry's career was cut short when he died in September 1950 at the young age of 57 while on a scouting trip in Berkeley -- not for the basketball or baseball team, which he was still coaching, but for Jeff Cravath's football team.

Then there's Joe Bottom, a four-time All-American swimmer, the first to ever crack 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and holder of five NCAA individual titles during a span in which USC won four consecutive NCAA crowns (1974-77). Add Dusty Dvorak, perhaps the greatest volleyball setter of all-time; Earl McCullouch, not just an All-American receiver on the 1967 national-champion football team, but a three-year track star; and Pam and Paula McGee, the 6-foot-3 twins who helped guide the USC women's basketball team to the 1983 and '84 NCAA titles.

Oh, and Matt Leinart. In the book, "Fight On! The Colorful Story of USC Football" by Steve Bisheff and Loel Schrader (who was also inducted in Saturday's ceremony), the 2004 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback topped a list attempting to determine the 50 greatest players in Trojans football history.

There have now been eight groups inducted into the cardinal-and-gold shrine, going back to the inaugural class of 1994 that included no-brainers Dedeaux, Howard Jones, John McKay, Marv Goux, Frank Gifford, Jon Arnett, Buster Crabbe, Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Al Geiberger, Frank Gifford, Fred Lynn, Parry O'Brien and Bill Sharman. All movers, shakers and touchdown makers.

Some get in on pure athletic achievement. Others for their contributions, a "spirit" award. One media member gets in each class as well. The committee of alums, athletic department officials and media types that ultimately pick the recipients has grown to 75. Some candidates don't get quite enough support and are tabled. Politics aside, it's a list of All-Americans and Olympians that runs deep.

I had the need to contact a former USC football coach the other day. Before talking to him, I did a quick fact-check of his career at the school.

He won 104 games in 12 seasons, with a 74.1winning percentage (by comparison, McKay had 127 wins in 16 seasons for a 74.9 winning percentage). He coached the 1978 team to the national title and was the 1979 national Coach of the Year. His team had a 28-game unbeaten streak from 1978-80.

He coached two Heisman Trophy winners, same as McKay. He had a 7-1 record in bowl games, including a 4-0 record in the Rose Bowl, good enough to get elected to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2003.

John Robinson, however, isn't in the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.

After eight votes and 182 recipients?

"Oh, well, people tell me to be patient and it'll come eventually," said the soon-to-be 72-year-old Robinson. "You know, I was actually at the school when that whole Athletic Hall of Fame started."

That was the second year of his second coaching stint, one that ended a bit less impressive than his first seven-year run (1976-82), which was interrupted by a chance jump to the NFL with the LosAngeles Rams. He tried to recapture those glory years upon his return to the Trojans sidelines in 1993. The program made it to a ranking as high as No. 5 midway through the '95 season, one that ended with a Rose Bowl win over Northwestern. But that five-year stretch included a 0-5 mark against UCLA and 1-3-1 against Notre Dame, and it all kinda ended miserably in 1997 when athletic director Garrett said at the time he had what he felt was no choice but to "go in a new direction," and decided Paul Hackett was "the right man at the right time" for the football program.

Still, after all these years, the assumption that Robinson was already in the USC Athletic Hall of Fame was an easy one to make.

One hundred and eighty-two names later, isn't it finally time?

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) Former USC football coach John Robinson won 102 games and a national title (1978) with the Trojans.

Getty Images

(2) BARON DAVIS

(3) KEYSHAWN JOHNSON

(4) DIRK NOWITZKI

Box:

(1) sunday punch

- Tom Hoffarth

(2) The Pop Quiz