USC Men’s Hoops Report: Should Trojan Fans Be Worried About Next Season’s Roster?

The transfer portal opened April 7, the day after the national championship game. Several Trojans rushed to jump in and they were recently joined by big man Gabe Dynes. So far Muss has landed KJ Lewis from the portal, a significant addition. The rising senior played two years at Arizona before playing for Georgetown in the Big East as a junior. 

However Lewis is the only addition to a roster that now consists of only five players. To be sure, the five are good. They have size, defensive intensity, ball handling and some scoring. The Ratliff twins and Christian Collins are top recruits. Collins, a 6’8” forward, is the top high school player in California and has good two way skills. The twins have size if not bulk and Rodney Rice was the key player Muss absolutely had to retain. 

The front court players are obviously young and we don’t know yet what they will contribute as freshmen though there is reason for optimism. The two guards are very solid. Still, five players don’t make up a team. 

Jacob Cofie and Alijah Arenas continue to reside in unknown waters. They haven’t entered the portal but they also haven’t signed or announced they are returning to USC. Alijah also has not made any public comment on whether he intends to enter the draft. 

If Jacob and Alijah are on board the Trojans have a solid core to build around. Without them next season’s roster may be in trouble. Without Jacob and Alijah USC needs starting level players who can score, rebound and defend. Many of the top players in the portal have already committed and USC does not appear to be in play for any of the best players who are still “on the market”. 

Players must enter the portal by Tuesday; it’s a hard deadline, and the Trojans may get some clarity soon. In the meantime USC has been linked to a couple players who could definitely help. 

Rising sophomore Eric Reibe is a 7’1”, 260 pound center who would fit very nicely with the twins in the USC front court. He was the backup center for UConn and saw a lot of playing time. Reibe was reportedly on campus last Monday and several national recruiting gurus predicted he would commit to the Trojans but nothing has happened. Reibe has reportedly been taking other visits since he left LA. 

Another rising sophomore linked to USC is former Washington guard JJ Mandaquit. He came on strong late in the season and would be a good addition to the Trojan backcourt. Plus, it would be fun to take a player from UW, reversing the one way pipeline from last spring. However, the projections and rumors of Mandaquit to USC have evaporated. 

The Trojans have reached out to a significant number of other players and have held zoom conferences with several. A few have been on campus but nothing more has yet happened with any of them. To be clear, this group appear to be mostly role players or potential backups. The Trojans haven’t been reported to be actively engaged with any of the portal stars. 

Maybe all of this isn’t surprising. The Trojans likely have a lot of their NIL resources committed to the five players they have plus what will be needed if Cofie and/or Arenas return. Perhaps that leaves little left to fill out the roster. Reibe would likely be costly, Mandaquit likely not.  

There should be significant NIL resources available if either of the two don’t return. It’s more than mildly surprising that Muss isn’t in on other major portal players “unless” he knows his two stars are returning and he can’t afford other big dollar players. 

To circle back – today, given what is publicly known, should Trojan fans be concerned about next season’s roster? Absolutely. This is year 3 for Muss and to say the first two didn’t go well is being overly understated. Injuries excuse a lot but at some point the results need to be there. “Some point” is 2026-2027. 

With five or even seven players USC needs help!