We talked to college basketball expert Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated about USC basketball. Our conversation included an evaluation of Kobe Johnson during the Trojans’ summer European tour in August, a three-game series against European professional teams.
“I had seen a good amount of Isaiah Collier. I knew what to expect. I knew he had a chance to be really good. So I wasn’t necessarily surprised to watch some of the film of those overseas games and see him play really well. I think the thing that stood out to me was that it really looks like Kobe Johnson has taken a step forward,” Sweeney told us. “If he has another leap in him, this is one of the best backcourts in college basketball. To go from 1.2 points per game as a freshman to 9.2 as a sophomore and improve as a shooter and improve as a defender, everything scaled up for him last year. You saw (on the European tour) a repeat of that in terms of his confidence shooting the basketball, you saw his ability to handle it, his athleticism. I think he’s gotten somewhat forgotten because Boogie decided to come back, because you’re bringing in Collier or because you’re bringing in D.J. Rodman, who is a Pac-12-level starter already at Washington State.”
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