With the beginning of faculty basketball season in early November, we’ll study the convention as an entire and Indiana’s roster over the approaching weeks.
At present, our crew previews proceed with USC.
Beforehand: Penn State, Washington, Minnesota
A brand new period of USC basketball begins this winter with a brand new coach and a brand new convention to navigate. After Andy Enfield departed USC for SMU after 11 seasons, the Trojans employed Eric Musselman from Arkansas.
The 59-year-old Musselman constructed profitable applications in Nevada and Arkansas and brings his switch portal-heavy strategy to Los Angeles and the Large Ten.
Whereas Musselman has traditionally been one of the aggressive coaches in pursuing transfers, he had no selection however to prioritize the portal when setting up his first USC roster.
With only one returning participant – 6-foot-10 senior Harrison Hornery – Musselman and his employees landed 11 transfers and two freshmen.
The Trojans could have loads of expertise with eight graduate college students on the 2024-25 roster.
Desmond Claude, a 6-foot-6 Xavier switch, is likely one of the probably backcourt starters. Claude averaged 16.6 factors, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.8 minutes final season for the Musketeers. He began all 34 video games and earned Large East most improved participant honors.
Penn switch Clark Slajchert had no scarcity of suitors within the portal due to his capturing prowess however opted to return residence to Los Angeles to complete his eligibility. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 18 factors and shot near 40 % from deep final season for the Quakers.
Bryce Pope, a 6-foot-5 switch from UC San Diego, is wired to attain. Pope averaged 18.3 factors in additional than 35 minutes per recreation final season and shot simply over 33 % on 3s. He ought to present a scoring punch off the bench for USC.
Freshman Isaiah Elohim, a Northridge, California native, was the No. 51 participant nationally within the ultimate 247Composite rankings for the 2024 class. Elohim initially signed with Musselman at Arkansas after which opted to observe him to USC after the teaching change. Elohim has a college-ready physique and may very well be able to contribute straight away to the Trojan backcourt.
As with most of Musselman’s groups, this roster has a number of gamers between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-8 who can play and guard a number of positions.
The headliner from the group is Saint Thomas, a switch from Northern Colorado. Thomas averaged 19.7 factors, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals final season and must be USC’s go-to scorer. Thomas shot near 57 % on 2s and 86.5 % on free throws.
After enjoying 4 seasons at Michigan, Terrence Williams II has loads of Large Ten expertise. Williams can play each ahead spots and had a stable season final yr for the Wolverines regardless of this system bottoming out below Juwan Howard. Williams averaged 12.4 factors and 4.5 rebounds whereas capturing near 40 % on 3s.
Chibuzo Agbo arrives from Boise State, the place he shot near 41 % on 3s and averaged 13.7 factors and 5.1 rebounds on an NCAA match crew. At 6-foot-7, he matches the mildew of the kind of wing Musselman likes to construct his crew round.
Sophomore Kevin Patton Jr. arrives from San Diego and may very well be a constructing block for this system’s future. An All-freshman choice final season within the West Coast Convention, Patton Jr. is 6-foot-8 however can play the guard spots or on the wing. He averaged 9.8 factors, 4.4 rebounds and a pair of.4 assists whereas capturing near 34 % from distance.
Two different forwards who may determine into the rotation are Yale switch Matt Knowling and freshman Jalen Shelley, who initially signed with Arkansas however is following Musselman to LA after the teaching change.
Knowling is a 6-foot-6 ahead who began within the Ivy League and performed a key position in this system’s NCAA match upset of Auburn final season. Understanding isn’t a shooter however averaged a stable 11.6 factors and 4.9 rebounds in simply over 28 minutes final season.
Shelley is a 6-foot-8 wing who was ranked because the No. 62 participant within the 247Composite. He could also be a season away from vital minutes, however like Patton Jr. and Elohim, he’s a key to USC’s future.
The minutes on the 5 are prone to go to 6-foot-10 Josh Cohen, a switch from UMass, Rashaun Agee, a switch from Bowling Inexperienced, and Hornery, the lone returnee.
Cohen isn’t a standard large man and likes to shoot from the perimeter, however he’s additionally a stable rebounder and finisher on the rim. He averaged 15.9 factors and 6.8 rebounds final season for the Minutemen. Agee is simply 6-foot-8, however he was the most effective offensive rebounders within the nation final season and practically averaged a double-double (13.3 factors and 9.9 rebounds per recreation). Hornery provides Musselman one other participant with dimension and expertise within the frontcourt. In restricted time final season, he averaged 3.3 factors and a pair of.8 rebounds.
Regardless of the roster turnover, USC is at the moment ranked fiftieth in Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 season preseason projections. The NCAA match isn’t anticipated in yr one of many Musselman period, but it surely wouldn’t be a shock given the expertise and flexibility assembled.
Backside line: After failing final season at Arkansas with a transfer-heavy roster, Musselman will likely be motivated to succeed rapidly in Los Angeles. The roster he assembled is heavy on expertise and manufacturing and a tender non-conference schedule ought to give the Trojans an opportunity for early-season success. Publish-play may very well be an issue towards a number of the Large Ten’s greater and extra bodily groups, however USC has a stable rotation of guards and wings that must be aggressive straight away.
Quotable: “We expect the potential right here is thru the roof. Coach Enfield did nice issues for 11 years right here. We need to proceed to do issues that he’s completed and attempt to construct on a few of these issues as properly.” – Musselman in his introductory press convention in early April.
Filed to: 2024-25 Large Ten preview, USC Trojans
