The USC men’s basketball roster in 2024 is mostly set, and we laid out the core components of that roster on Monday.
Fans who think USC basketball is stuck in a rut, without having a higher ceiling, need to realize that next season’s roster should be significantly better than the past season’s roster. Most of this is connected to the arrival of top-ranked point guard recruit Isaiah Collier. Some of this is related to the ability of Vince Iwuchukwu to have a full offseason of workouts which can bring out the best in his game and enable him to play more minutes next season. Another reason why this 2024 roster should be better than the 2023 edition is that USC had a lot of underclassmen who were learning on the job this past season. They should all be a lot better next season. New recruits, Vince Iwuchukwu’s improved health, and added experience should all combine to create a noticeably better USC team.
The Trojans should have ample depth, particularly in their frontcourt. They can rotate Iwuchukwu, Josh Morgan, and Kijani Wright. They should have depth on the wings, too. Tre White, Kobe Johnson, and Reese Dixon-Waters will all share minutes. Andy Enfield will be able to play big and small lineups. There are a lot of combinations USC can explore, and we haven’t even included Arrinten Page or Silas Demary in this discussion.
There’s one central question remaining for the USC 2024 roster. Andy Enfield has to find a knockdown shooter who can be with Collier on the floor and extend defenses so that Iwuchukwu will have more room in which to operate in the low post. Enfield has to deal with two connected questions in the pursuit of this one missing piece: Does he have to get someone in the transfer portal, or can he sufficiently develop what he has?
Oziyah Sellers is a great practice-court shooter, but he didn’t play big minutes this past season because his defense and overall game weren’t developed enough. Malik Thomas showed an ability to score, but his defense wasn’t good enough to justify extended minutes. Enfield has to decide if he can work with Sellers and Thomas and turn them into decent defensive players who won’t hurt USC at that end of the floor. If he can, then USC will have shooters to put on the court next season. Enfield won’t need to go to the portal.
If Enfield can’t develop Sellers or Thomas at the defensive end, he needs to encourage them to hit the portal. Enfield would then need to go to the portal and bring in an established shooter who won’t hurt the Trojans on defense.
If Enfield can get this problem solved, he will have a complete roster. He has figured out most of the other questions on this roster. This is the one big question which hasn’t been (satisfactorily) answered.
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