The USC Trojans and other college basketball programs have not finalized their full rosters for the coming season. The transfer portal has over 1,000 players, and USC has roster spots to fill. The Trojans won’t have Boogie Ellis or Drew Peterson next season. Reese Dixon-Waters and Malik Thomas entered the transfer portal, giving Andy Enfield a chance to upgrade on the wings and in the backcourt. Enfield and USC can give incoming point guard Isaiah Collier an elite shooter to work with, which would take an already-strong roster and give it that much more upside.
The college basketball transfer portal not only has over 1,000 players right now; it has a lot of high-end players, especially after Monday’s news that Max Abmas of Oral Roberts and L.J. Cryer of Baylor have entered the portal.
Let’s be clear about this: USC is highly unlikely to get superstars in the portal such as Abmas and Cryer, but those entries could still be good news for the Trojans. Why? It’s not that hard to understand: If Kansas or North Carolina get those superstars, that leaves other high-quality transfers for second-tier programs such as USC and Arizona State.
While the blue-blood programs are likely to get the top-five ranked transfers on the board, USC can pick up a top-20 or top-30 transfer which meets a specific need, such as perimeter shooting. The transfer market is so loaded with talent that USC has a better chance of getting a role-specific fit for its roster.
Andy Enfield badly needs to hit a home run here. If he does, USC — already projected to be a top-20 team in earlybird preseason rankings for 2024 — could significantly improve its position and field a top-10-caliber roster for next season.
It’s a moment of great pressure, but also a moment of great opportunity, for USC men’s basketball.
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