College basketball analyst thinks USC should make NCAA Tournament next year
College basketball analyst thinks USC should make NCAA Tournament next year
It has certainly been a dramatic offseason for USC men's basketball. For the second year in a row, the Trojans turned over nearly their entire roster, once again heavily utilizing the transfer portal.
A recent story by Isaac Trotter of 247Sports gave a way-too early 2025-2026 outlook for every Big Ten basketball team. His view on USC was a fairly optimistic one, as he believes that Eric Musselman's group should be an NCAA Tournament team next season.
Here is what Trotter had to say about the Trojans:
'USC's talent level has skyrocketed after the snazzy additions like [Rodney] Rice and [Chad] Baker-Mazara, but it's the defense that should be remarkably better in 2025-26,' Trotter wrote. 'Musselman's squad now has legit plus size at all five positions. USC should be able to shrink the floor defensively and cause real problems at every level. Of course, there's a little fretting about the point guard room. [Jordan] Marsh is the lone true point guard on the roster, but both Rice and Baker-Mazara notched north of 150 pick-and-roll reps last year with elite efficiency and slim turnover rates. USC can piece it together with those two alphas if it wants, while maintaining the flexibility to play a traditional point guard in Marsh if things go haywire. Losing Keonte Jones stings, but USC has a deep frontcourt with plenty of versatile, different pieces. Keep an eye on [Jacob] Cofie. The Virginia transfer has all the tools to be a total stud.
USC is huge, will shoot way more 3-pointers, has multiple different avenues it can use to find efficient offense and should be much-improved defensively. If Arenas is healthy, it may have the best wing corps in the Big Ten. The Trojans smell like a tournament team with room for so much more if everything clicks.'
In Year 1 under Musselman, USC did not even come close to making the NCAA Tournament. Getting there in Year 2 would be a tremendous step in the right direction. Let's see if the Trojans can pull it off.
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He averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 53.2% overall, including 57.1% in post-up chances, according to Synergy. The first-round prospect has defensive potential with a 7-6 wingspan (tied for second-longest at the combine) that helped him average 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals. Concerns: The 19-year-old must improve his 3-point shot (6 of 37, 16.2%). There was a limited sample size of 24 games before a foot injury ended his season, though the Hoyas lost seven of 10 without him to illustrate his value. Rasheer Fleming: The 6-8, 232-pound junior from Saint Joseph's is a first-round prospect who averaged 14.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last year. He has a better than 7-5 wingspan, and went from shooting 31.3% on 3s in his first two seasons to 39% last year. Danny Wolf: The 6-11, 252-pound junior thrived in moving from Yale in the Ivy League to the Big Ten's Michigan. 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