USC lands important commitment from Xavier transfer Desmond Claude

USC head coach Eric Musselman is putting the finishing touches on building his 2024-25 roster for the Trojans and he landed an important piece on Thursday, getting a commitment from Xavier transfer Desmond Claude.

The 6-foot-6, 207-pound guard was the nation’s No. 83 overall prospect in the 2022 class before signing with Xavier. He was named to the Big East All-Freshman team two years ago. This past season, Claude was named the Big East Most Improved Player. His scoring jumped from 4.7 points per game to 16.6 ppg. His rebounds went from 2.5 per game to 4.2. And assists were up from 1.8 per game to 3.2. His free throw shooting also jumped from 57% to 79.4%. He led the Big East in scoring for the month of March, averaging 22.8 points per game, which included a 36-point outing against Georgetown and 30 points against Georgia.

“It honestly felt like a perfect fit from the first call,” Claude told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. “The academic support, basketball resources and basketball vision all seemed custom-made for me. Also, Coach Musselman has a proven track record over the past several years of helping big lead guards make the jump to being NBA-ready guards.”

Claude is commitment No. 9 for Musselman out of the transfer portal since he was hired by USC in early April.

Claude ranks as arguably the biggest addition to this point, and the class is also highlighted by Saint Thomas (19.7 ppg at Northern Colorado), Josh Cohen (15.9 ppg at UMass), Terrance Willims II (12.4 ppg at Michigan) and Chibuzo Agbo (13.7 ppg at Boise State). Other transfers include Penn point guard Clark Slajchert, Bowling Green forward Rashaun Agee, UCSD point guard Bryce Pope and Yale forward Matt Knowling.

Musselman also brought two high school commits with him from Arkansas, in Jalen Shelley and Isaiah Elohim, both top-60 prospects in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking.

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