Post by mhbruin on Jun 4, 2022 13:16:04 GMT -8
Next are the 3rd place USC Trojans. I thought they would be very good last season, and they were about as good as I expected, until March. Then they went 1-4, with only a 4-point win over Washington. They finished with a first-round exit as a #7 seed.
They finally got the "can't lose to Mick Cronin" monkey off their back, by doing it twice. However, they have to prove they can beat Stanford after losing twice to the Cardinal.
GRADUATING
Goodwin was their 2nd-leading rebounder, a double-digit scorer, and a solid post player for them. They will miss him.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
Andy Enfield has finally run out of Mobleys. Isaiah led the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks. So SC lost their two starting big men.
However, Enfield got good news when starters Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson withdrew from the draft and returned to school.
TRANSFERRING OUT
I kept wondering why Enfield played Agbonkopolo, but the light finally started to come on for him. So, naturally, he is leaving. He and Anderson, took turns starting, so between them, one of SC's starters is leaving for Wyoming.
Boubacar Coulibaly is not the same player as Jefferson Koulibaly who is transferring out of Washington State. Neither played enough to confuse me, and they are both leaving the Pac-12. Hurray!!
RETURNING
Note about classes: With the extra year of eligibility, there is no clear way to label players. If a player is in his 4th season, but will have another year of eligibility after this year, I am calling him "Jr 4".
Enfield played a lot of guys last season, so he returns quite a bit of experience. They also return quite a bit of shooting, with 4 solid 3-point shooters.
With the return of Peterson and Ellis, the Trojans return 2 starters. They are almost certainly going to be their best players.
If you are like me, you are trying to forget Peterson going off for 27 against us in our loss at Galen. Fortunately, that was a career high for him. He isn't that good. However, he is a very good player, who does everything well. He is even one of their best ball-handlers. This is a guy who was recruited by the likes of Rice and Bowling Green out of HS, and found new life through the transfer portal.
Boogie Ellis came to SC from Memphis with the reputation as a selfish player. I don't think he lived up to that. However, he was pretty inconsistent last season. He could score 27 in one game and then score 3 points in the next. They will be expecting a lot from him this season. He might be the key to their season.
Dixon-Waters had a solid freshman season. If he can cut down his turnovers, he will probably move into the starting lineup.
Kobe Johnson looked like he had potential in limited minutes, but his shooting was pretty bad. He will need to shoot better to be a big factor.
Joshua Morgan was a competent backup center last season. He will probably back up freshman Iwuchukwu this season.
So far, Malik Thomas has not lived up to his Top 100 ranking.
This is a solid lineup, but with at least one big question: Who will play PG? They have some good guards, but most of them are more comfortable off the ball. Their best ball handler is Peterson, a 6-9 forward. Will he play point forward? Kobe Johnson could play the role, but can he shoot?
RECRUITS
(#9 class, #1 in Pac-12)
Kansas seems to offer just about every 4-star and 5-star recruit.
I think Iwuchukwu and White are going to be very good college players. I have my doubts about Kijani Wright.
Iwuchukwu is likely to be the starting center. I don't know how ready he is to play a big role.
For a change, SC isn't bringing in any transfers.
CONCLUSION
They finally got the "can't lose to Mick Cronin" monkey off their back, by doing it twice. However, they have to prove they can beat Stanford after losing twice to the Cardinal.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Chevez Goodwin | 34 | 34 | 25 | 11 | 6 | 1 |
Goodwin was their 2nd-leading rebounder, a double-digit scorer, and a solid post player for them. They will miss him.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Isaiah Mobley | 32 | 32 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
Andy Enfield has finally run out of Mobleys. Isaiah led the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks. So SC lost their two starting big men.
However, Enfield got good news when starters Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson withdrew from the draft and returned to school.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Max Agbonkpolo | 33 | 18 | 21 | 8 | 4 | 1 | Wyoming |
| Ethan Anderson | 34 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Wyoming |
| Boubacar Coulibaly | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Pepperdine |
I kept wondering why Enfield played Agbonkopolo, but the light finally started to come on for him. So, naturally, he is leaving. He and Anderson, took turns starting, so between them, one of SC's starters is leaving for Wyoming.
Boubacar Coulibaly is not the same player as Jefferson Koulibaly who is transferring out of Washington State. Neither played enough to confuse me, and they are both leaving the Pac-12. Hurray!!
RETURNING
Note about classes: With the extra year of eligibility, there is no clear way to label players. If a player is in his 4th season, but will have another year of eligibility after this year, I am calling him "Jr 4".
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Boogie Ellis | 33 | 33 | 30 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 42% | 38% | 1.4 | Jr 4 | 4 | 38 |
| Drew Peterson | 34 | 34 | 33 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 47% | 41% | 1.4 | Sr 5 | 3 | 331 |
| Reese Dixon-Waters | 33 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 44% | 46% | 0.9 | So | 4 | 52 |
| Joshua Morgan | 31 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 55% | 0.8 | Jr 4 | 3 | 174 | |
| Harrison Hornery | 12 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 41% | 39% | 0.3 | So | 4 | 102 |
| Kobe Johnson | 27 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33% | 29% | 1.6 | So | 3 | 247 |
| Malik Thomas | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17% | 0.3 | So | 4 | 81 |
Enfield played a lot of guys last season, so he returns quite a bit of experience. They also return quite a bit of shooting, with 4 solid 3-point shooters.
With the return of Peterson and Ellis, the Trojans return 2 starters. They are almost certainly going to be their best players.
If you are like me, you are trying to forget Peterson going off for 27 against us in our loss at Galen. Fortunately, that was a career high for him. He isn't that good. However, he is a very good player, who does everything well. He is even one of their best ball-handlers. This is a guy who was recruited by the likes of Rice and Bowling Green out of HS, and found new life through the transfer portal.
Boogie Ellis came to SC from Memphis with the reputation as a selfish player. I don't think he lived up to that. However, he was pretty inconsistent last season. He could score 27 in one game and then score 3 points in the next. They will be expecting a lot from him this season. He might be the key to their season.
Dixon-Waters had a solid freshman season. If he can cut down his turnovers, he will probably move into the starting lineup.
Kobe Johnson looked like he had potential in limited minutes, but his shooting was pretty bad. He will need to shoot better to be a big factor.
Joshua Morgan was a competent backup center last season. He will probably back up freshman Iwuchukwu this season.
So far, Malik Thomas has not lived up to his Top 100 ranking.
This is a solid lineup, but with at least one big question: Who will play PG? They have some good guards, but most of them are more comfortable off the ball. Their best ball handler is Peterson, a 6-9 forward. Will he play point forward? Kobe Johnson could play the role, but can he shoot?
RECRUITS
(#9 class, #1 in Pac-12)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Vince Iwuchukwu | 7-0 220 | C | 5 | 23 | UCLA, Baylor, Arkansas, Kansas |
| Kijani Wright | 6-9 235 | PF | 4 | 44 | Arkansas, Texas, Florida St, Kansas |
| Tre White | 6-6 190 | SF | 4 | 47 | LSU, Kansas, Illinois, Texas Tech |
| Oziyah Sellers | 6-5 160 | SG | 3 | 138 | Arizona St, Miss St, Creighton, New Mexico |
Kansas seems to offer just about every 4-star and 5-star recruit.
I think Iwuchukwu and White are going to be very good college players. I have my doubts about Kijani Wright.
Iwuchukwu is likely to be the starting center. I don't know how ready he is to play a big role.
TRANSFERRING IN
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| - None - | |||||||||||||
For a change, SC isn't bringing in any transfers.
CONCLUSION
It seems pretty likely that four of SC starters will be Boogie Ellis, Drew Peterson, Reese Dixon-Waters, and Vince Iwuchukwu. However, who will be the fifth starter? If they had a true PG, I would expect him to start. However, I don't see who that is.
This is a talented, experienced team, who returns a lot of guys and brings in a big recruiting class. However, I am not quite as impressed with SC as I was last season.
I think they will be one of the top 4 teams in the league, in part, because there are 8 teams that seem worse than the Trojans. However, I don't see them winning the Pac-12. A 3rd or 4th place finish and a #10 or #11 seed in the NCAA tournament seems about right.
This is a talented, experienced team, who returns a lot of guys and brings in a big recruiting class. However, I am not quite as impressed with SC as I was last season.
I think they will be one of the top 4 teams in the league, in part, because there are 8 teams that seem worse than the Trojans. However, I don't see them winning the Pac-12. A 3rd or 4th place finish and a #10 or #11 seed in the NCAA tournament seems about right.