USC basketball coach Eric Musselman had already done an impressive job rebuilding the Trojans’ roster almost from scratch, with just one returning player in Terrance Williams II leftover after the annual transfer portal exodus, but he added one more extra piece Wednesday.
USC announced the signing of Dartmouth transfer guard Ryan Cornish, who averaged 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last season while shooting a career-best 37.2 percent from 3-point range (54 of 145).
He had seven 20-point games, including 28 vs. Yale and Cornell and 25 vs. Brown. He had a season-high 6 3-pointers on 11 attempts in that game vs. Yale.
Cornish, a 6-foor-4 guard with one season of eligibility left, is USC’s ninth transfer addition.
The Trojans landed two very high-profile transfers in Maryland guard Rodney Rice (who averaged 13.8 points and 2.1 assists per game in helping the Terps to the Sweet 16) and Auburn small forward Chad Baker-Mazara (who averaged 12.3 points per game, shot 38.1 percent from 3-point range and 88.8 percent from the foul line on a balanced and deep Tigers team that reached the Final Four).
UNC Asheville guard Jordan Marsh, who averaged 18.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists as a sophomore is another high-scoring backcourt option, like Cornish, making the jump from a smaller conference.
And rounding out the portal additions are 6-foot-8 forward Ezra Ausar (Utah), 7-foot-3 center Gabe Dynes (Youngstown State), 6-foot-10 forward Jacob Cofie (from Virginia), 6-foot-7 guard/forward Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris) and 6-foot-9 forward Jaden Brownell (Samford).
There’s also the arrival of five-star incoming freshman shooting guard Alijah Arenas, who recently recovered from a serious car wreck, along with four-star freshman combo guard Jerry Easter.
