Transfer Portal Needs For USC Trojans, Eric Musselman

The USC Trojans men's basketball team and coach Eric Musselman are expected to use the transfer portal in order to fill in the roster for next season. With players coming and going, the Trojans will need to be strategic in their portal pickups to stay competitive in the Big Ten.

Feb 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans will head into the offseason with a 16-17 record in year one of coach Eric Musselman's tenure. With six players participating in Senior Day activities for the Trojans, Musselman will have a lot of re-tooling to do in order to build USC into a competitive program once again.

With the transfer portal opening up on Monday, March 24, USC will need to act quickly if they want to land some of the best players available. Despite the sizable amount of players departing the program, the Trojans are going to have to strategically recruit their replacements.

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1. Starting center

Mar 13, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; USC Trojans guard Wesley Yates III (6) and USC Trojans forward Josh Cohen (33) celebrate after a play during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Musselman ran a lot of lineups this season that didn't include USC center Josh Cohen. After averaging 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 2024 with UMass, Cohen struggled to settle in during his lone season with the Trojans. He finished the year averaging 6.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

With Cohen exhausting his eligibility, USC will now turn their attention to the portal to look for his replacement. Currently, the Trojans have no centers coming into the program from their 2025 recruiting class.

At times, it seemed as USC ran into problems in the frontcourt because Cohen became a liability on the offensive end of the ball, and with the lack of rebounds, it made it hard for Musselman to give Cohen consistent minutes. After averaging over 25 minutes a game in the three seasons prior to coming to USC, Cohen was limited to around 13 minutes per night under Musselman.

2. Experienced guard depth

Jan 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Clark Slajchert (32) dribbles the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the second half at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With the Trojans picking up three guards in their 2026 recruiting class, USC will have a lot of young depth at the guard spot, but not much in terms of experience. If starting guards Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude return back for another season, it's a positive sign for depth at the position.

If USC is able to land an guard who has experience of coming off the bench in a sixth man role, it could be dangerous for opposing teams as it could allow the Trojans to play small ball with Claude being 6-6, 201 pounds.

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3. Wing depth

USC Trojans forward Saint Thomas (0) watches as the ball goes back for a backcourt violation Thursday, March 13, 2025, during the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Purdue Boilermakers won 76-71. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coming into this season, one of the perceived strengths of Musselman's inaugural roster was the team's wing depth. With Rashaun Agee, Matt Knowling, Terrance Williams II, Saint Thomas, all transferring into the program, it seemed like the Trojans were going to get solid minutes from each one of them.

Instead, USC saw injuries to Williams and Knowling that caused each player to miss a large part of the season.

With Knowling's eligibility expiring, and Agee, Williams, and Thomas all exploring options to return back to USC, the Trojans could use another wing to fill in depth for the squad.

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