Finding Their Niche : USC: Freshmen Boseman, Jones emerging as Bruin rival O’Bannon now struggles.

It was tough for USC’s Stais Boseman and Avondre Jones to watch fellow freshman Charles O’Bannon gain national exposure while playing for highly touted UCLA at the beginning of this basketball season.

With each soaring O’Bannon dunk and no-look pass shown as a television highlight during the Bruins’ 14-0 run, Boseman and Jones simply shook their heads.

That’s because it was only a year ago that they were mentioned in the same sentence with O’Bannon as top collegiate prospects.

“It was real deserving for him (to gain national recognition) since he did come in and start as a true freshman,� said Boseman, who attended Inglewood Morningside High and played against O’Bannon and Jones last season when they starred at Artesia. “But I could not help but feel frustrated seeing Charles and UCLA enjoy the success they have this year. You had to ask yourself why you weren’t enjoying the same success.�

For the first two months of the season, O’Bannon dominated the Pacific 10 Conference as the league’s top newcomer. Since then, however, his numbers have dropped, whereas Boseman and Jones have come on strong.

Tonight, these highly regarded freshmen will meet again when No. 15-ranked UCLA travels across town to play USC at 9 at the Sports Arena before a national ESPN audience.

UCLA, 19-4 overall and 12-3 in the Pacific 10, is tied for first place with Arizona in the conference standings and is trying to gain a No. 1 regional seeding in the NCAA tournament. USC (13-11, 6-9) needs a victory to keep alive any hopes of securing a National Invitation Tournament berth.

It’s pressure time for three freshmen who only a year ago were high school seniors preparing for Southern Section playoff games.

O’Bannon, a 6-foot-7 leaper who was on three State championship teams at Artesia, began the season playing like a veteran. He averaged 11 points--including three dunks--and 6.3 rebounds a game in the first month of the season.

O’Bannon and his older brother, Ed, led the Bruins temporarily into the No. 1 ranking.

It all appeared so easy for O’Bannon as he made the transition from high school to college, while making Coach Jim Harrick look good for starting him in his first college game.

But then the situation changed. The Bruins began to struggle, and with every loss O’Bannon’s luster began to dim. As teams around the Pac-10 scouted him more thoroughly, his scoring and rebounding averages dropped to 10.1 and 6.1 in 29 minutes a game.

Harrick still praises his young freshman’s rebounding and defense, but has said that O’Bannon has had trouble in the Bruins’ half-court offense.

At USC, Boseman and Jones have had different seasons.

While the Trojans began the season by winning 10 of their first 12 games, Boseman and Jones played sparingly. They started six games and averaged only seven points and five rebounds in 29 minutes a game . . . combined .

In the last three games, however, they have displayed clear signs of the ability that made them blue-chip recruits.

As the Trojans’ defensive stopper, Boseman, a 6-4 guard, took center stage last Saturday when he played Cal’s Jason Kidd one-on-one and came away with three big steals and 13 points in the Trojans’ 86-78 overtime victory.

Jones, a 6-11 center, is third in the Pac-10 in blocked shots and has become an intimidating force.