Last night I attended the ninth annual Harold Pump Foundation charity dinner. It was my first time at the event and I came away incredibly impressed with not only the turn-out, but also how well-run it was.

There were about 1,500 people - including Denzel Washington and a bunch of college coaches (Ben Howland, Jamie Dixon, Bruce Pearl and Buzz Williams to name a few) - in attendance.

The Pump Brothers - Dana and David - have helped raise a ton of money for cancer since their father, Harold, died nine years ago.

I listened to some of the first-hand stories last night, but none of it hit me nearly as hard as when I just found out that Wake Forest assistant Jeff Battle's wife died of lung cancer.

Battle is one of the classiest people I've ever met in this business and his wife, Joyce, 44, had been battling cancer for the last couple years.

My heart and prayers go out to the Battle family.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Wait Chapel on campus. There will be a visitation from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem.

Here's how devoted Battle was to his wife: He likely would have been the head coach at Wake Forest instead of Dino Gaudio, but decided to back Gaudio instead because he wanted to devote himself to his wife.

JOHNSON LEAVING USC

I found out last night that USC point guard Angelo Johnson, who was expected to compete for a starting spot with the departure of O.J. Mayo to the NBA, is leaving the program.

Sources told me it was because USC coach Tim Floyd wouldn't guarantee Johnson a starting spot.

``He asked me with O.J. [Mayo's] departure if I could guarantee him a starting spot at the point," Floyd told the Los Angeles Times. "I told him, 'Angelo, you're going to play a bunch and could start on 95 percent of the teams in the country, but I can't guarantee you that."

Johnson averaged 4.5 points and 2.1 assists last season while starting 11 games, but unfortunately, in this day and age, too many kids want to be handed playing time instead of actually earning it.

This will be a significant hit for a USC team that has enough talent to finish near the top of the Pac-10. The Trojans return versatile guard Daniel Hackett, big man Taj Gibson and wing Dwight Lewis. USC will also add talented freshman wing Demar DeRozan.

RANDOM NOTES: Texas gained a commitment from Duncanville High (Texas) wing Shawn Williams, according to Scout.com's Evan Daniels.