Eric Musselman Impacting USC's NCAA Tournament Chances

The USC Trojans haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since the 2022-23 season. Now in his second season at the helm, USC coach Eric Musselman has the Trojans on track to make it back to March Madness thanks to his transfer portal success.

Jan 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the second half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For a program that has had as much recent success as the USC Trojans, it’s a surprise to see that they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since the 2022-23 season. And after missing the tournament in his first year as the Trojans’ coach, Eric Musselman worked hard to transform the program via the transfer portal. 

With four games left in the regular season, Musselman has USC sitting with a 18-7 record and a legitimate chance of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons. 

Living in the transfer portal

Jan 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Kam Woods (13) enters the couert before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

USC didn’t have many players returning from Musselman‘s first year last season. In fact, the only scholarship player to come back to USC was forward Terrence Williams II. He missed a majority of the 2024-25 season with an injury. 

With a depleted roster, Musselman and his staff had to go into the transport portal to find players to fill out the roster. All in all, the Trojans brought in 11 new transfers, including a mid-season addition in Kam Woods.

Landing Chad Baker-Mazara

Jan 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Chad Baker-Mazara (4) reacts against the Northwestern Wildcats in the first half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

During his first transfer portal cycle with the Trojans, Musselman was able to add some impactful transfers like Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III, but neither player was truly a household name prior to joining USC. 

This time around, Musselman acquired some serious star power in Chad Baker-Mazara and Rodney Rice. Both players had profound success at their previous schools in Auburn and Maryland respectively. 

Baker-Mazara was ranked as the No. 3 small forward and No. 21 player in the transfer portal according to 247Sports' rankings. Rice checked in as the No. 6 shooting guard and No. 25 player in the transfer portal.

Rice was set to be one of the best players in the Trojans’ backcourt this season and had a great start to the year before sustaining a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He played in just six games and averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. 

Currently sitting out with a knee injury he sustained during the Trojans' win over Penn State, Baker-Mazara is USC’s leading scorer with 18.3 points per game. He has been the deciding factor in a couple of key wins for the Trojans this season.

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Eric Musselman set up for success

Nov 14, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Rodney Rice (1) dribbles the ball against Illinois State Redbirds guard Johnny Kinziger (11) during the first half of the Hall of Fame Series game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

After retooling his roster in just one offseason, Musselman and the Trojans are in prime position to head back to the NCAA Tournament. 

With Baker-Mazara and Rice both out, USC will have to turn to other key transfer portal pickups like Ezra Ausar, Jacob Cofie, and Jordan Marsh to pick up the slack in the most important stretch of the season. 

It won’t be easy, but if the Trojans are able to rely on their stars as well as their depth pieces, they should be able to find themselves back in the postseason.