Arrinten Page provides important bench minutes for USC in season-opening win over Kansas State

Isaiah Collier’s high school teammate, now his Trojan teammate, helped USC in a big way.

Isaiah Collier owned the big stage on Monday night in USC’s season-opening victory over Kansas State. Collier, the No. 1 recruit in the country for the Class of 2023, played like a No. 1 player. However, as good as he was, Collier needed help. He got plenty of it from Boogie Ellis, who scored 24 points, and from Kobe Johnson, who played typically terrific defense and chipped in 16 points. Collier also received help from his high-school teammate who joined him at USC.

Arrinten Page made a mark in his first USC game.

Page joined Collier in making the cross-country trip from Wheeler High School in Georgia all the way to Los Angeles. USC didn’t just get one Wheeler High prospect; it got a two-for-one. Collier is the main part of that deal, but Page showed he can significantly help the Trojans as well.

Page, coming off the bench against Kansas State, provided 6 points, 5 rebounds, and a steal in 14 highly productive minutes. Page, with 5 boards, outrebounded starting USC big man Josh Morgan (3 rebounds) and starting forward D.J. Rodman (4). USC gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to Kansas State. Wildcat players collected 19 offensive rebounds in this game, not counting team rebounds (balls out of bounds off missed shots). Page was good at limiting KSU’s second-chance opportunities.

Page’s performance was important for a lot of reasons. One, USC didn’t have big man Vince Iwuchukwu available. Iwuchukwu is counted on for defense and rebounding. Two, backup big man Kijani Wright was ineffective and played only five minutes. If Page can give USC reliable 14-to-18-minute bench stints as he did against Kansas State, USC won’t suffer when Josh Morgan has to get a rest, and when Iwuchukwu can’t play. Page might be a bigger key to this USC season than we previously thought.

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Top USC basketball recruits play in ESPNU tournament, show their skills to national TV audience

Isaiah Collier and Arrinten Page will be Trojans next season. They took the big stage in a nationally-televised tournament on Tuesday. Collier stuffed the stat sheet. #USC

The high school basketball showcase known as the City of Palms Classic was televised on ESPN for first time in 12 years. The GEICO Nationals returned to Fort Myers, Fla., for the third consecutive year.

If you watched USC Trojan commits Isaiah Collier and Arrinten Page in action Wednesday night, you were in for a treat.

Despite the loss, 2023 Five star USC commit Isaiah Collier had a great game for Wheeler High School (GA). He finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals in a 61-52 loss.

Collier is ranked the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, the highest-ranked USC recruit since head coach Andy Enfield took over in 2013.

USC has now secured five commitments from five-star recruits in the 247Sports rankings in Enfield’s tenure, including current Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.

Arrinten Page is a 6-foot-9 PF/C who doubles as a teammate and best friend of Collier at Wheeler in Marietta, Georgia. Look out for both prospects over the remainder of the season as they try to capture a state and national title.

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USC basketball wins major recruitment battle, sets the stage for program-changing moment

#USC and Andy Enfield landed a 4-star big man. That’s obviously huge … but the other part of this story is that it could lead to a far bigger recruiting win.

This is not hyperbole. This is not exaggeration. This is not embellishment. USC basketball has set itself up for a true program-changing moment. The Trojans need to win high-end recruiting battles and give themselves the pieces needed to compete for Final Fours, not just Sweet 16s.

USC has landed one very good recruit, which is a great thing in and of itself, but the real story behind the successful pull of four-star big man Arrinten Page is that it puts the Trojans in position to land the really big fish on the recruiting trail, the guy Andy Enfield has coveted as the centerpiece of his 2023 recruiting class and his push to make USC a national contender next season.

We will break down that story below: