New USC basketball transfer won’t start from scratch with new coaching staff

One USC basketball transfer will hit the ground running with Eric Musselman’s new staff.

Former Washington Husky guard Wesley Yates III committed to the USC Trojans a few weeks ago. What is notable about this particular USC transfer is that he is familiar with multiple members of Eric Musselman’s staff.

We noted earlier this year that new USC assistant coach Quincy Pondexter “joins a USC staff with another former Washington Husky assistant. Will Conroy also worked at UW before moving to USC. It will be fascinating to see how these former Huskies work with Musselman in Los Angeles.”

Yates will take the court for USC this coming season already knowing what to expect from two members of Musselman’s staff. Musselman can supplement what Will Conroy and Quincy Pondexter will share with Yates. This is not a situation where an incoming transfer has to start at the ground floor. There will be a built-in knowledge base which can accelerate Yates’ developmental arc.

The 6-foot-4 guard from Beaumont (Texas) picked Washignton over Gonzaga, Stanford, Baylor, Memphis, Auburn, Texas, Arkansas and Houston originally and was the No. 37 overall prospect in the 2023 class according to ESPN. Yates missed the entire 2023 season due to injury and will have four years of eligibility still remaining.

The 6-foot-4 guard from Beaumont (Texas) picked Washignton over Gonzaga, Stanford, Baylor, Memphis, Auburn, Texas, Arkansas and Houston originally and was the No. 37 overall prospect in the 2023 class according to ESPN. Yates missed the entire 2023 season due to injury and will have four years of eligibility still remaining.

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4-star SG Wesley Yates sets commitment date

This would be another big win for Bruce Pearl.

[autotag]Wesley Yates [/autotag] is one of the best basketball players in the 2023 recruit class and a major Auburn target.

The four-star shooting guard will be announcing his commitment on Oct. 5 and will be deciding between Auburn, Gonzaga, Stanford, Washington, Texas, Houston, Arkansas, LSU, and Baylor.

The Beaumont, Texas native measures in at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds and is an excellent scorer who excels at creating his own shot.

He is ranked as the No. 30 overall player and No. 2 shooting guard in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the second-best player from Texas.

He officially visited Auburn back on Jan. 29 but it will be tough for [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and the rest of the coaching staff to land him. The Texas Longhorns are the runaway favorites right now, they have a 90.8% chance to be his pick, according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine.

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4-star SG Wesley Yates sets commitment date

This would be another big win for Bruce Pearl.

[autotag]Wesley Yates [/autotag] is one of the best basketball players in the 2023 recruit class and a major Auburn target.

The four-star shooting guard will be announcing his commitment on Oct. 5 and will be deciding between Auburn, Gonzaga, Stanford, Washington, Texas, Houston, Arkansas, LSU, and Baylor.

The Beaumont, Texas native measures in at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds and is an excellent scorer who excels at creating his own shot.

He is ranked as the No. 30 overall player and No. 2 shooting guard in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the second-best player from Texas.

He officially visited Auburn back on Jan. 29 but it will be tough for [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and the rest of the coaching staff to land him. The Texas Longhorns are the runaway favorites right now, they have a 90.8% chance to be his pick, according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine.

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Auburn among nine schools in the running to land four-star guard

He is the No. 28 ranked shooting guard in the class.

August has been kind to the Auburn Tigers so far in the form of recruiting.

While the Tigers were competing in Israel as part of their three-game exhibition tour, they learned that four-star point guard Aden Holloway announced his pledge to Auburn, kickstarting the 2023 recruiting cycle with their first commit.

Saturday, another top guard from the class of 2023 announced that he is considering Auburn.

[autotag]Wesley Yates[/autotag], the nation’s No. 28 shooting guard for the 2023 cycle from Beaumont, Texas, has released his top-nine college choices, with Auburn included in the mix.

Auburn officially offered Yates last June, and Yates officially visited Auburn on January 29. When discussing the visit with On3’s Joe Tipton, Yates says that he enjoys the home-like atmosphere of Auburn.

“I’ve built a great relationship with BP (Bruce Pearl). It was like a family atmosphere there when I took my official visit. They told me what it was going to be like. It really felt like home, just how all the players kept it real with me and told me what it was. I talked to a couple of the player’s parents, and they said everything was true, everything they do. I just liked the atmosphere. It was crazy out there too. BP lets his players play. I feel like he would let me rock out if I went there.”

Yates is the No. 4 shooting guard of the 2023 class, and is the No. 2 guard from the state of Texas. Joining Auburn in Yates’ top nine schools are Arkansas, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, LSU, Stanford, Texas, and Washington.

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Tigers a finalist for top-50 2023 shooting guard

The Tigers are listed as the favorite by On3 to land the elite backcourt player.

New LSU basketball coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is still searching for his first commitment in the 2023 class, but the Tigers are in the mix for a number of top prospects.

One of those players, four-star Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) shooting guard Wesley Yates, cut his list of teams down to nine, and LSU made the cut. The Tigers are joined by Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, Stanford, Texas and Washington.

Yates is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound player who ranks as the No. 31 overall recruit in the 2023 class. He’s considering a number of schools in his home state of Texas, but he’s also considering a few SEC programs.

“It’s close to home, and I got a real good relationship with the coaches,” Yates said of LSU, according to On3. “Coach (Casey) Long is my guy, and you got Coach (Matt) McMahon, the head coach, who developed Ja Morant. It’s just crazy to know he did that at Murray State, and he still talks to Ja today. They have shown me how I can develop my game and how they can develop me into a pro. They play in the SEC, which is a big stage. I got a visit set with them on September 10; it’s the week LSU plays Southern in football, so it’ll be fun.”

On3 lists LSU as a slim favorite for Yates, giving them a 27.7% chance of landing him, ahead of the Longhorns, Auburn and the Cardinal.

McMahon did an impressive job this offseason replacing a roster that had largely dissipated following the season. He landed the No. 15 class in 2022, and though he’s still waiting for his first pledge in the bump class, landing a player like Yates would quickly ease any concerns.

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