When Eric Musselman was hired as USC's basketball coach a year ago, he'd end up starting basically from scratch with only little-used reserve Harrison Hornery hanging around through the coaching transition.
And while the hope would be for Musselman to build momentum from his first year heading into his second, well, the task hasn't gotten significantly easier from a roster rebuild standpoint.
Such is life in the transfer portal era ...
Musselman's Trojans were already losing half the roster due to graduation/exhausted eligibility with starters Chibuzo Agbo (11.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game), Josh Cohen (5.9 PPG) and reserves Matt Knowling, Clark Slajchert, Bryce Pope and Hornery all gone.
Add to that list four other departures to the transfer portal, headlined by burgeoning star Wesley Yates III (14.1 PPG, second on the team) along with promising young players Kevin Patton Jr., Isaiah Elohim and Jalen Shelley.
All the while, USC is awaiting a decision from star guard Desmond Claude (team-high 15.8 points per game), who does have eligibility to return but could also take his shot at the next level (or, of course transfer) and hasn't yet announced his intentions.
Really, the state of USC's roster largely hinges on Claude's decision and what's to come in the portal.
But all that said, Musselman does at least have some foundation on which to build this time.
Wing Terrance Williams II, who came in as a transfer from Michigan and played in just seven games (six starts) due to injury, is expected back with an extra year of eligibility, while two other key cogs in forwards Saint Thomas (9.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG) and Rashaun Agee (9.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG) are also hoping for an extra year -- Thomas because he left Illinois-Chicago halfway through the 2022-23 season due to mental health reasons, and Agee because of time spent at the junior college level in 2021-22.
There's also the arrival of five-star incoming freshman shooting guard Alijah Arenas along with four-star freshman combo guard Jerry Easter.
So there's actually a lot to like about the Trojans' potential -- if Claude returns or if Musselman finds a star point guard in the transfer portal (which doesn't come easily).
So far, Musselman has added some potential role players -- and most notably some size -- from the portal in 6-foot-10 forward Jacob Cofie (from Virginia), 6-foot-7 guard/forward Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris), 6-foot-6 forward Keonte Jones (CSUN) and 6-foot-9 forward Jaden Brownell (Samford) -- while 6-foot-11 center Drew Fielder (Georgetown) committed and then reneged on that decision to go to Boise State.
Again, such is life in the transfer portal era.
We'll take a closer look at those transfer additions, but here's an overall breakdown of the roster movement ...
