If USC men’s basketball can stay healthy next season, the Trojans and Eric Musselman have the talent to go to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and very possibly reach the Elite Eight in March Madness. ESPN offered its latest offseason rankings after three USC players pulled out of the NBA draft and chose to return to school. ESPN’s ranking for the Trojans: No. 12.
“Eric Musselman will enter Year 3 in Los Angeles with by far his most talented roster since taking over the Trojans,” ESPN wrote. “From a purely on-paper perspective, this team is loaded. Rodney Rice was averaging 20 points before getting hurt, Jacob Cofie was just invited to the NBA draft combine, Georgetown transfer KJ Lewis was an All-Big East selection. Those three will be surrounded by five former McDonald’s All-Americans: returnee Alijah Arenas, UConn transfer Eric Reibe and incoming freshmen Christian Collins, Adonis Ratliff and Darius Ratliff.
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“Projected starting lineup
Rodney Rice (20.3 PPG)KJ Lewis (14.9 PPG at Georgetown)Christian Collins (No. 5 in SC Next 100)Jacob Cofie (9.9 PPG)Eric Reibe (5.9 PPG at UConn)”
USC just needs to stay healthy. Last season’s team would have made the NCAA Tournament if not for the large number of games missed due to injury by star players, including and especially Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas. If this core remains intact and healthy, USC should at least win an NCAA Tournament game and will have a chance to make a deep run in March of 2027.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC men’s basketball ranked No. 12 by ESPN after NBA draft decisions
