USC basketball lost a few players to transfer and a couple others left early for the NBA Draft. As a result, they face a roster reload this season.
USC TROJANS
Last Season: T-6th, 9-9 in Pac-12, 21-13 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 7th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Chimezie Metu (So)/Nick Rakocevic (Fr)
PF: Bennie Boatwright (So)/Harrison Henderson (Fr)
SF: Shaqquan Aaron (So)/Charles Buggs (Sr)
SG: Elijah Stewart (Jr)/De’Anthony Melton (Fr)
PG: Jordan McLaughlin (Jr)/Jonah Matthews (Fr)
Gone: G-Julian Jacobs, F/C-Nikola Jovanovic, PF-Strahinja Gavrilovic, SG-Katin Reinhardt (transfer-Marquette), PF-Darion Clark (transfer-Grand Canyon), PF/C-Malik Martin (transfer-USF), G/F-Malik Marquetti (transfer-Louisiana-Lafayette)
USC Basketball Strengths:
Led by talented sophomores Chimezie Metu and Bennie Boatwright, USC has tremendous length upfront. Metu is 6-11 and makes his biggest impact on the defensive end as a rebounder and shot blocker. He will see a much larger role this season after coming off the bench as a freshman. Boatwright is 6-10 and extremely versatile on the offensive end as he connected on 36% of his triple tries as a freshman. Louisville transfer Shaqquan Aaron is a lengthy wing who should step into the small forward role. 6-11 Nick Rakocevic and 6-10 Harrison Henderson are a pair of freshmen who add even more size inside for the Trojans.
Question Marks:
Besides Minnesota grad transfer, Charles Buggs, the Trojans bench is entirely comprised of freshmen. Jonah Mathews and De’Anthony Melton are the highest rated of the group and USC will need one of them to provide some punch off the bench behind their junior guard combination of Jordan McLaughlin and Elijah Stewart.
USC Basketball Player to Watch:
Jordan McLaughlin has been an impact player since arriving on campus and USC needs his experience to shine through on this relatively young team. He shared the ball handling responsibilities last season with Julian Jacobs but with Jacobs leaving school early, the offense is solely in McLaughlin’s hands.
X-Factor:
Due to his size and versatility, Boatwright has emerged as a potential first round prospect. His ability to stroke it from the outside makes him dangerous in pick and pop situations as he is a more than capable spot up shooter. If he can utilize his 6-10 size to be more aggressive at the rim, he will take the next step in his game.
Looking Ahead to 2017-18:
Andy Enfield landed a key transfer this off-season in Duke point guard, Derryck Thornton. With a pair of four star recruits in small forward Jordan usher and big man Victor Uyaelunmo, there is some good talent joining a roster with just one graduating senior.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/18 at Texas A&M
11/25 vs. SMU
12/3 vs. BYU
12/22 vs. Missouri State (Las Vegas Classic)
12/23 vs. DePaul/Wyoming (Las Vegas Classic)
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.