Andy Enfield said 300-400 text messages were piling up in his phone every time his USC basketball team advanced again on its way to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight over the last few weeks.

"I heard from a lot of people all over the country that are close friends, old friends, new friends and of course a lot of people I've worked with in the past," he said. "I appreciate everybody reaching out and being excited for our team. It just took a while to get back to everybody."

Enfield has taken time to sort through the well wishes and congratulations, to enjoy some long overdue time at home with his family after more than three straight weeks spent isolated in hotels and arenas, and just a little time to reflect and put that whole memorable March Madness run into perspective.

On Wednesday, Enfield talked with TrojanSports.com about what this last month has meant for his program and where the Trojans go from here as they look to leverage this moving forward.

"It was great to get some national exposure on the biggest stage in March Madness for our players and our program," he said. "They played extremely well the entire season and to make the Elite Eight and our final ranking was ninth as of yesterday in the coaches poll, it's certainly great exposure for our players and our program. Going forward, we have a winning culture at USC, we've had that for the last six years -- won 134 games the last six years. ...

"So we do have a winning culture at USC and we look forward to building on our Elite Eight run. Returning players will have a lot of confidence going into next season, and hopefully we'll keep winning at this level."

The last time one of Enfield's teams seized a share of the national spotlight during the NCAA tournament -- his Sweet 16 run with No. 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 -- it proved career-changing for him as he landed the USC job weeks later.