His rapid ascent as a freshman was the most promising part of an otherwise uneven debut season for USC hoops under Eric Musselman. But after less than one year at USC, guard Wesley Yates III is entering the transfer portal, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly told the Times.
Yates’ departure is a significant blow to USC’s backcourt plans, which looked bright just a few weeks earlier. Yates was expected to play alongside point guard Desmond Claude, assuming he doesn’t declare for the NBA draft, and incoming five-star prospect Alijah Arenas, forming one of the Big Ten’s better backcourt trios.
Yates left Washington last June to join USC, where his cousin, Quincy Pondexter, had recently been named an assistant coach. Given his late arrival, Yates played all of last season without a scholarship. “He’s the best walk-on in America,” Pondexter told The Times last month.
Since Musselman inserted Yates into USC’s starting lineup in December, the freshman established himself as one of the best young scorers in the Big Ten. He averaged 16.7 points per game over the final four months of the season and shot 43% from 3-point range, one of the best rates in the nation.
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His progress, Musselman said last month, “changed our season, honestly.”
In late February, Yates suggested that he had every intention of returning to USC as a sophomore.
“I’m locked in here,” Yates said at the time.
He credited Musselman’s coaching and belief in him for his breakout season.
“You can see it translate on the court,” Yates said. “The belief he has in me, it’s crazy, like, from the start of the season to now you can see a switch. He let me play through mistakes. He let me play my game.”
When USC lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament a few weeks later, a frustrated Yates sat at his locker in Indianapolis, vowing that the team would return better next year.
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“I promise we won’t be in this position again,” Yates said. “That’s a fact.”
But by April, his situation had changed. With revenue sharing looming next fall and NIL paydays soaring in anticipation, Yates will enter the transfer portal, where he has no shortage of suitors, all eager to see where he can take his game as a sophomore.
USC is still expected to return Claude, while Arenas should step into an even larger role without Yates in the picture. The rest of USC’s backcourt remains up in the air, as ...
