USC men’s basketball enters the season with a new kind of pressure and a little more buzz around it, even if the recent results haven’t exactly invited patience. Eric Musselman is heading into his third year after coming over from Arkansas, and the Trojans still haven’t reached the NCAA tournament under his watch. Last season ended in a familiar-looking mess: an eight-game skid to close things out, with Big Ten play exposing the soft spots in a 7-13 conference finish.
Now the Trojans are back in the preseason AP Poll at No. 21, and Musselman has been talking like a coach who believes this group can push past what came before. He said the team has the potential to be “the best team” so far. The challenge is obvious: USC has only three key returning players, so the roster looks almost entirely remade.
That restart begins with senior guard Rodney Rice, who flashed star-level scoring before a shoulder injury shut him down at the Maui Invitational. In six games, he put up 20.3 points per game, and USC will need that burst back in a hurry.
Alijah Arenas, the sophomore guard, also returns after putting together a strong season coming off a knee injury. He averaged 14.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, and his role is expected to keep growing.
Then there’s junior forward Jacob Cofie, who made noticeable gains last season and is still one of the most important pieces because of what he brings defensively and on the glass.
Those three have not yet played a game together beyond exhibition action this year, but the early signs have given USC something to work with. The Trojans opened preseason play 2-1, with Rice and Arenas doing the heavy scoring, and that at least offers a glimpse of what the offense can look like once things settle in.
Musselman spent the offseason building around size, and the new roster reflects that plan. Freshman center Darius Ratliff arrives as a four-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, while his twin brother Adonis Ratliff comes in as a five-star freshman forward.
Both add length, and Adonis also brings floor-spacing ability. Sophomore center Eric Reibe, who transferred from UConn, gives USC another big body with efficient scoring and rim protection.
Freshman forward Christian Collins, the No. 6 player in the class of 2026, brings a high-volume scoring punch. Senior forward Joshua Hughes rounds out the frontcourt additions after coming over from Evansville, where he showed consistent production and double-double potential.
The backcourt, though, may be the area that determines how far this team can go. USC dealt with injuries and problems at guard last season, so Musselman had to find answers in the portal.
Senior guards KJ Lewis and Issac Bruns both arrive after injury issues of their own, but each brings scoring efficiency. Senior guard Jalen Cox and junior guard Jadis Jones also give the Trojans more handling and shot creation.
The schedule will start to answer the real questions quickly. USC opens its nonconference slate Monday against Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. at Galen Center, before moving through 12 nonconference games in all. Utah State is one of the early tests, but the bigger obstacle is still what comes later in Big Ten play.
And that league run is where USC’s season could really take shape. The Trojans’ hardest games are mostly at Galen Center this time, which gives them a better setup than last year.
On Jan. 12, they get No. 6 Michigan State to start a brutal four-game stretch, and USC will be trying to answer for last season’s 80-51 loss.
Eleven days later comes No. 16 Michigan, the defending national champions, after the Wolverines beat USC 96-66 last season with turnovers, poor shooting and points in the paint doing the damage.
That stretch ends on the road against No. 3 Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where the Trojans will try to flip the script after last season’s 36-point loss at Galen Center.
An upset there would do more than just help the record; it would give USC a real boost heading into the stretch that follows.
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