Tag: D.J. Rodman

Analysis of D.J. Rodman coming to USC — experts think Trojans made a significant upgrade

We told you #USC needed a frontcourt player who could shoot 3-pointers and play good defense. Guess what? D.J. Rodman does those things well.

What did we tell you? We told you that USC, even with the additions of Bronny James and Isaiah Collier, still needed another roster piece. The Trojans still needed a forward, ideally someone who could play rugged defense, offer some rebounding and toughness, and make a reasonable percentage of 3-point shots to draw defenders outside the paint.

D.J. Rodman, who committed to USC in the transfer portal on Tuesday, coming from Washington State, does those things well. He checks several different boxes for the Trojans and Andy Enfield. He might be a little undersized, but his skill set is precisely what USC needed.

This is why USC fans and national college basketball experts are both buzzing about the Trojans and what they can become next season. There has never been a more talented roster in the Enfield era. USC enters the new season with more buzz than any other team in the past 20 years. The last USC team to enter a season with a comparable amount of hype is the 2002 team which followed the 2001 team’s run to the Elite Eight.

That team got a No. 4 seed in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. This 2024 USC team should get a higher NCAA Tournament seed.

Let’s provide more analysis of D.J. Rodman below, as shown in tweets from commentators plus our own insights:

Washington State’s D.J. Rodman transfers to USC, gives Trojans a good fit

#USC has Dennis Rodman’s son and LeBron James’ son on the same team. Beyond that, the Trojans got a very good player.

The USC Trojans, as we have told you over the past few weeks, still needed another roster piece even if they landed Bronny James. The Trojans gained Bronny’s commitment this past Saturday, but they still needed a player to round out their roster. They needed a forward who could defend, rebound, and ideally hit perimeter shots.

They just got that kind of player on Tuesday.

D.J. Rodman, an experienced forward who played for Washington State and recently entered the transfer portal, committed to USC. Rodman is the son of NBA champion Dennis Rodman. He joins LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, on a USC roster with more NBA bloodlines.

Rodman is a very good positional fit for the Trojans. At 6-6, he might be slightly undersized, but he did average almost six rebounds per game last season while hitting 38 percent of his 3-point shots. Toughness, rebounding, floor spacing, and defense were ingredients USC needed from an incoming transfer to supplement the backcourt of Bronny, Isaiah Collier, and Boogie Ellis.

If you follow Washington State bloggers and their coverage of the Cougars, they were hoping Rodman could be part of WSU’s 2023-2024 roster. The Cougars wanted him to stick around. That in itself is a commentary on his quality.

USC now has Rodman on its roster. That’s a solid, clear improvement to the Trojans, increasing their chances of making a run at various big prizes next season: the Pac-12 title, a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament, and of course, the Final Four.

We’ll have much more on this story in the coming days, as USC basketball continues to gain national attention.

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