Yale forward Matt Knowling commits to USC out of transfer portal

Yale forward Matt Knowling has committed to USC out of the NCAA transfer portal, his agent told national analyst Jeff Goodman.

Knowling helped star for a Yale team that reached the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 after upsetting 4-seed Auburn. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard will now head to play for Eric Musselman, who recently took the USC job after a five-year stint at Arkansas.

The Yale forward averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game during his senior season in 2023-24.

With one double-double last season, Knowling showed he can fill up the stat sheet, though he’s a better scorer than rebounder. He had a stretch of 10 straight games scoring in double-figures at one point this season, while he had only one game with double-digit rebounds.

Still, he’s got some serious ability.

Knowling isn’t so much a shooter as a slasher, having taken only 18 3-point attempts in his three years with the Bulldogs. He shot 27.8% on those attempts.

But his field goal percentage is quite good overall; he’s a career 59.8% shooter. Free-throw shooting could use a little work, currently at 62.8% career.

Knowling was unrated as a recruit, hailing from Bolton (CT) East Catholic.

USC lands transfer from Bryce Pope

UC San Diego transfer guard Bryce Pope has committed to Eric Musselman and USC, he told On3.

The senior averaged 18.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists this season for the Tritons. He’ll immediately add some scoring punch to the backcourt at USC.

Pope was a four-year player at UC San Diego, and he has averaged double figures scoring in three of the last four years, with his freshman year checking in at 9.7 points per game. He’s only gotten better as time has gone on.

The 6-foot-3 prospect is a career 33.3% 3-point shooter.

Pope is a San Diego native and was First-Team All-Big West this past season.

On3’s Joe Tipton also contributed to this report.