LOS ANGELES — High up in the main-concourse seating of the Galen Center Oct. 15, a man named Jim Yee sat perched alone in a black cushion one of the smattering of USC faithful present this evening who wasn’t a family member of those on the floor.
Since “Lew Alcindor was playing for UCLA,” as Yee put it, he and family had been loyal supporters of USC men’s basketball. They had season tickets in a couple rows in the lower basin, had seen coaches come and go, had seen success rise and fall. But usually, there was one commonality: rows of empty seats in January.
“I’m not sure what could actually bring more people in,” Yee said, watching USC go through warm-ups before an exhibition against UTSA. “Except winning.”
After rebuilds at Nevada and Arkansas, new coach Eric Musselman has already sparked a slight buzz around campus with early results, as a completely new-look roster knocked off Gonzaga in a 96-93 exhibition win in Palm Desert last weekend. There’s little national expectation for this program in its inaugural year in the Big Ten; USC was picked to finish 14th by conference media in an October poll. But there’s sneaky talent hiding in the wings. Quite literally.
“We know where we’re preseason-ranked,” Musselman said in early October, “and we have to play with a chip on our shoulders.”
Here’s three key questions for this 2024-25 USC program.
Can Desmond Claude round out his game?
In a practice in September, Xavier transfer Desmond Claude spotted up from the corner in a team-against-team drill and let a three fly.
Clank.
“That shot,” Musselman yelled from across the court, after getting Claude’s attention, “is going to determine your career.”
Nationally, the 6-foot-6 Claude is the biggest name on a roster of mid-major transfers, a former four-star guard named the Big East’s Most Improved Player in 2023-24 after averaging 16.6 points a game. He’s virtually been handed the keys to Musselman’s offense, and has shown a natural ability to attack the rim with 17 free throws drawn across two exhibition games.
USC’s offense, though, will find more space and dynamism if Claude — who shot 24% from three last year — can prove he’s a consistent shooter. He underwent a couple offseason procedures to clean up debris in his elbows, which he told media this fall had previously caused pain every time he lifted his arms to shoot.
Can USC play big? Should they?
In August, a reporter asked UMass transfer Josh Cohen how USC has handled not having a true center on the roster.
“Well,” Cohen said, leaning into the microphone with a smile, “I do play the center position, so, uh. I don’t know how to answer that.”
At first glance, to be fair, the 6-foot-10 Cohen doesn’t look like he has the beef of a traditional Big Ten center. But he thrived for years in the post at UMass on physicality, and USC will need him and 6-foot-8 Bowling Green transfer Rashaun Agee to battle on the boards and capably hold their own in individual matchups with Big Ten bigs.
How does chemistry hold up?
Sure, team culture is a vague platitude and often impossible to define. But Musselman will be tested, as a coach, managing the personalities on an almost entirely new roster of mid-major transfers, virtually all of whom came to USC to prove their worth at a higher Big Ten level.
“You’ve got a lot of people,” Agee said in October, “who want to come in and establish ground.”
It’ll be a constant fight for minutes, as Musselman played 12 members of his roster over five minutes in a season-opening exhibition win over UTSA. That’ll take a significant amount of buy-in from a veteran group, needing to prove they aren’t hired mercenaries and keep an even head when minutes are inevitably slashed.
