Eric Musselman has believers in his rebuilt USC roster
Considering the massive turnover with the USC Trojans’ basketball roster this offseason, plus the transition into a new conference, it wouldn’t have been out of line for new head coach Eric Musselman to chalk the 2024-25 season up to a rebuilding year and start focusing on the more distant future.
But Musselman worked tirelessly upon his arrival at USC to put together a roster that can compete right away both in conference and nationally. As more and more “way-too-early” top 25 polls come out, it’s clear that Musselman has plenty of believers in what he’s accomplished this offseason.
Most recently, On3’s James Fletcher III put together his final look at a potential Top 25 ranking before the college basketball preseason gets going in full. Musselman and the USC Trojans are right in the thick of it at No. 22 overall.
Perhaps most impressively, USC is the only program of the 25 listed to have an N/A when it comes to “Key Returns.” USC and Duke are the only programs with double-digit players listed under “Key Additions,” and no program has more listed there than the Trojans, with 11.
Fletcher also takes a shot at the projected starting lineups for all of his Top 25 programs. No surprise regarding USC, it’s five offseason additions. Fletcher goes with Bryce Pope, Saint Thomas, Desmond Claude, Terrance Williams and Josh Cohen as USC’s starting five.
This isn’t a universal ranking. ESPN updated it’s “Too Early” Top 25 ranking today and the Trojans aren’t included. But it does show a thought that the Trojans could be competitive right away in a Big Ten that doesn’t appear to have any slam-dunk national championship-caliber teams. In Fletcher’s ranking, UCLA is the top-rated Big Ten team at No. 19. Indiana (21), USC (22) and Illinois (23) are bunched together. ESPN’s rankings have No. 16 Purdue as the top-ranked Big Ten team.
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