USC men’s basketball clearly has the NBA-caliber talent it needs

USC basketball upgraded its roster in Eric Musselman’s second season. It wasn’t quite enough to make the NCAA Tournament only because of several injuries which led to many dozens of games missed. Now Musselman sees NBA-caliber talent on his roster, giving the Trojans the ingredients they need to be a nationally relevant team. He talked to USC athletics about this point.

“In year one at Arkansas, we felt there were two really talented players in Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe. It was super important that we retained those two guys, which we did, and they ended up both being future NBA players,” Musselman began. “Now, in the Big Ten, you have to have NBA players to win. At Nevada, we had NBA draft picks and guys that went on to play in the NBA, then at Arkansas, we had the first one-and-dones ever at a very historic program. They had never even had a lottery pick before. We feel like we’re going to have multiple guys that put on an NBA uniform on this year’s roster, which is a change from where we’ve been in years one and two. I can pretty much guarantee we’re going to have at least one guy get drafted. But that’s what happens when you’re building a program: You’re learning a new conference, your campus and your academic culture all before you build. Hopefully this is the year that we turn the corner.”

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There is little doubt that USC will be well-represented at the 2027 NBA Draft unless the Trojans get hit hard by the injury bug. There are definitely multiple NBA-quality performers on this squad, and USC has what many analysts view as a Sweet 16-caliber team which should rise to the second tier of the Big Ten this season behind the top three of Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC men’s basketball clearly has the NBA-caliber talent it needs

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usc-mens-basketball-clearly-nba-134736781.html

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Publish date : 2026-07-15 13:47:00

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