Ruben Report: Could This Be USC’s Deepest Team Ever?
On paper, there is a lot to like about the twelve-man USC 2023-2024 roster. There is good size and experience, a lot of shot makers, what we anticipate will be a very good point guard, great athleticism, and a lot of talent behind the presumed starters. But to become the “deepest” Trojan team some inexperienced players must come through.
The Trojans will have extra practice days this summer because they will take a foreign trip in August, which the NCAA allows once every four years. The July practices will be invaluable for the coaching staff to evaluate the new players and determine which returnees have improved their game. At the same time it will allow the new players and younger returners extra time to learn the USC offense and defense.
We don’t know today and may not know until well into fall practice whether the Trojans will play with one or two bigs on the floor or whether the staff will change the lineup depending on the opponent and who is playing well in practice. I’ll go out on a limb and predict two bigs will be on the court together most of the time but that will depend on how quickly inexperienced players progress.
The Newest Trojan, Brandon Gardner
With the commitment from Brandon Gardner, USC now has the No. 4 recruiting class, behind only Kentucky, Duke and Oregon. That’s a lofty position for USC. Gardner’s late commitment pushed the ranking up several spots. He is very explosive off the floor and athletic with long arms, the kind of player Enfield likes. Gardner is a 6’7 1/2” power forward and was the New York State POY. After Rick Pitino was hired by St John’s he made it clear he wanted to clean house. Reportedly Incoming freshman Gardner was one of three players Pitino wanted to keep but Gardner chose to seek a release from his letter of intent. He is ranked as high as 50th by one recruiting service and 107th by On3.
Gardner hasn’t explained why it took him so long to commit to another school after his early April release by St John’s but he has offered that he really wanted to play with freshmen classmates Isaiah Collier and Bronny James and has said he loves the Trojan staff.
He is aggressive on the offensive boards and will run the floor hard on a fast break. Most of his offense comes around the basket but he can make the occasional jumper. Gardner fills a hole on this Trojan roster; no one else matches his skill set. I could suggest that it will be fun to watch him develop over the next few seasons, but in today’s college sports world no one knows who will be where from one season to the next.
Guards And Wings
To evaluate the roster at this early date it makes sense to look at the perimeter and front court players separately. Before July practice begins there appears to be a big experience and talent difference. The perimeter players as a group may be elite. On the other hand USC has only one truly experienced player up front, Josh Morgan, and the staff will need to identify who else can help for this team to be as good as many Trojan fans expect/hope. The backcourt may be the best in the country if Collier lives up to his potential.
I’ll start with Boogie Ellis, a surprise returner for his fifth season of college basketball and third at USC. Ellis was an All-Pac 12 first-team player last season and may be one of the favorites for POY this season and maybe even make an All America team. He led the Trojans averaging 17.7 points and made 38.6% from three while playing out of position as the primary ball handler.
Ellis won’t have to worry about handling the ball on a regular basis with the nation’s top recruit, Isaiah Collier, ready to take over at the point. Collier ties OJ Mayo as the highest-rated recruit ever to come to Troy. Both were rated first or second by the major recruiting services.
Collier averaged over 15 points and 4 1/2 assists last season and has everything a coaching staff could envision for a point guard except a consistent outside shot. He has good size, is a tremendous ball handler, can lead the break, and will find an open teammate anywhere with an assortment of passes. Like Caleb Williams, he can get the ball to a teammate through the smallest of windows. Collier also has the strength to absorb contact driving inside and finish.
The Trojans have several options for the third starter but for now, I expect Kobe Johnson will be the third starter. This will be Johnson’s third year at USC and last season he made a huge jump and earned all Pac-12 defensive honors and averaged almost 10 points while making 36% from three and 84% from the line. He is 6’6” with long arms and can guard any team’s best perimeter player.
Beyond the three presumed starters, the Trojans added DJ Rodman, a fifth-year player from Washington State who could be labeled a small forward but will be a wing for the Trojans to take advantage of his outside shooting. Rodman is very good from three and is athletic enough to be a good rebounder at 6’6”. It will be surprising if he doesn’t play a lot of minutes for USC. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 boards last season. His college experience will be very valuable especially early in the season. Rodman will be another player who will benefit from Collier’s ability to find open shooters.
The perimeter depth is so good that Bronny James isn’t mentioned until four others are addressed. He is a four or five-star depending on the recruiting service. His high school numbers aren’t eye-popping, averaging 14 ppg, but things should be different at USC. In high school, defenses were designed to stop him and he faced double and triple teams; that won’t be the case in his freshman season and he will get more and better outside looks. Collier helped to recruit James to USC and he will get a lot of good looks from his fellow freshman. James is also an elite defender, named one of the five best high school perimeter defenders after last season.
Finally, Oziyah Sellers will look to make dramatic improvement from a forgettable freshman season, similar to what Johnson did in his second year. He will need to make a big jump to get much court time because of the five other perimeter players. Sellers may be the best pure shooter of the group, but he needs to prove it in games and greatly improve his defense.
Front Court
As deep and experienced as the Trojan backcourt is, the frontcourt is the opposite. There is tremendous potential but little proven college experience. The difference between the two groups could lead Enfield to play with only one big depending on how the bigs develop during summer and fall practice.
The proven player is Josh Morgan who will be in his fifth college season and fourth at USC. Last year was the first time Morgan started and he was greatly improved. He averaged 7 ppg and over 5 boards in 24 minutes per game. Morgan has great timing and was one of the leading shot blockers in the country. He was named to the All-Pac 12 Defensive first team with Johnson. He also alters many more shots than he blocks. Morgan was an improved scorer and rebounder last season but was only average at best. He improved his hands and mishandled far fewer passes and rebounds but the Trojans will need more from him. Also, when he leaves his feet to block a shot his teammates need to rotate to block out his man; far too often his man grabbed an uncontested offensive rebound.
The key to the front court and perhaps to the entire season is the other true five, Vince Iwuchukwu. He missed all preseason practice and over half of his freshman season due to a serious heart condition. He also missed the end of the season with an unrelated injury. Iwuchukwu is supposed to be fully ready by the start of July practice. He is an elite athlete who appears to have NBA talent. He can score inside and occasionally move outside for a jumper. Last season he was out of position on defense too many times and did not rebound or block out well. If he masters the concepts on both ends of the court he could be one of the best bigs in the conference.
I expect Enfield to experiment with Morgan and Iwuchukwu playing together. Neither is a natural high post player and having both bigs inside will impact Collier’s ability to drive to the rim for a shot or to find an open shooter. If they can play together this may be USC’s best lineup early in the season.
The two freshmen will get every opportunity to earn playing time. I’ve already addressed the newest Trojan, Brandon Gardner, and his running mate was more highly regarded coming out of high school. Arrinten Page is 6’9” and played center last year. He will likely be asked to play the four for the Trojans and often play further from the basket, but he could fill in at the five at times. Page is athletic, has a lot of moves inside and can shoot from the perimeter. Plus he has the advantage of playing with Collier in high school and on several summer league teams and he will begin practice knowing how Collier can find open players all over the court and to always be ready for a pass.
Kijani Wright improved late in his freshman season. The former McDonalds All American wasn’t as productive as hoped last year. He has a big body which he learned to use on defense as the season wore on and block out to protect the defensive boards, which was a problem for the Trojans last year. Wright didn’t appear to have a shot from beyond about six feet and he is not a big leaper like the two freshmen. Playing for the Trojans last season will give him an early advantage over Page and Gardner but Wright will likely need to improve significantly on offense to be the third big this season.
Finally, Harry Hornery is back for his third season. He has not played a lot of minutes except in a few games where the coaching staff hoped his perimeter shot would help. If he played regularly he would make a good percentage of his three-point attempts and he blocks out well on the defensive boards and plays good position defense underneath. His problems are a lack of foot speed and athleticism and the inability to stay with a big man who gets the ball outside and drives to the rim. Hornery needs to show improvement to find playing time at the four ahead of Wright and the freshmen.
And One
I feel comfortable saying now that this is the deepest backcourt the Trojans have ever had. And maybe it’s the deepest team but that will take some time to develop and see how the frontcourt players progress. If Iwuchukwu can play to the level Trojan fans hoped to see before last season it will make a big difference. The same is true if one of the freshman bigs can earn early minutes.
The expectations going into this season are very high. The Trojans are ranked in every early preseason top 25 and most pick them to battle Arizona for the conference title.
Planning is already underway in the athletic department about how to handle the expected increased attendance and more importantly the big names who are expected to attend Trojan games. LeBron may attend a few home games and Dennis Rodman may be there as well. Beyond the two Dads planning USC will try to provide security for other “A” lister friends, Laker teammates, and no-athlete big names who are expected to attend some of the Trojan home games.
USC is looking into providing a separate entrance for big names who attend games, some form of security around their seats and to help usher them out of Galen. Plus, there will be more security around the team than ever before due to Bronny’s incredibly large social media following and his family. It’s also possible that security will travel with the Trojans especially if any of the James family attends games away from Galen, which would be a first to my recollection. Perhaps we’ll get our first look at how the USC athletic staff handles security in the first game against Kansas State in early November at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Collier’s signing helped land James and together they helped land Rodman and Gardner. The open question is whether their presence this season and the hoped-for success on the court will help recruiting going forward. The first signing period is days after the season begins and won’t provide any time for the Trojans to make an impression on the court. If Enfield and staff can figure out a way to take advantage of his star players in recruiting it may help the Trojans move into the upper ranks of college basketball for an extended period. For this freshman class, Enfield gets a well-deserved high five.
Enfield and his staff will begin coaching next month not only for this season but for the future. They want to get high-profile players on campus to watch early Trojan practices. It’s definitely an exciting time for Trojan basketball and USC basketball fans. My advice – get to the home games early; it will be much more crowded this season!
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