USC Trojans' Alijah Arenas Joked About UCLA Bruins Hospital Stay After Car Accident

USC Trojans men's basketball freshman Alijah Arenas was involved in a fiery car crash in April that saw him hospitalized for nearly a week. Arenas' father, former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas, revealed that Alijah was able to remain in good spirits after the accident in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show:

"His sense of humor was still there. When he was waking up and he asked where is he and it was like, 'You're at the UCLA hospital,' and he wrote 'Tell Muss (USC coach Eric Musselman), I'm sorry I'm at UCLA.' I'm like, 'Not right now, not right now,'" Gilbert Arenas told Patrick.

USC Trojans head coach Eric Musselman watches his team from the bench during the second half of their exhibition game at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. | Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arenas committed to the Trojans on Jan. 30, and he has been bought in ever since. After his accident, Musselman visited Arenas and his family in the hospital. He was formally introduced as a Trojan earlier in June, and he spoke publicly about his accident for the first time. Arenas explained to reporters what happened as he was driving home from an early-morning workout.

"I switched lanes without meaning to, and I knew something was wrong, and next thing you know, I can't get back to the left lane. So then a car is coming towards me, and I think that I'll just pull over," said Arenas. "So I speed up to pull over to the right in a neighborhood because there are cars parked on the street I'm on to the right. But when I'm speeding up to turn, I can't stop. The wheel wasn't responding to me as if I wasn't in the car."

“I’m trying to get in to turn into a neighborhood and when I’m turning and I’m speeding up to turn, I can’t stop. Next thing you know, all I remember is feeling pressure. I remember a light passing me and I look and I see it’s a car going by. I look back in front of me. I’m on my way to a curb. I get on the curb and all I can remember is just pressure. I wake up in the car after about like three minutes," said Arenas.

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Arenas hit a tree and a fire hydrant, and his Tesla Cybertruck caught on fire. Arenas was able to escape the burning Tesla Cybertruck with the help of some Good Samaritans, and he cooled himself down by laying in a puddle of water leaking out of the fire hydrant.

"Honestly, I take full responsibility for the crash, whether it was me, another car, a malfunction. I don't want to put anyone else in this situation, the people who made the car, anything like that. I take full responsibility," Arenas continued.

McDonald's All American guard Alijah Arenas (16) dribbles the ball during the first half of the McDonald's All American Gam — Apr 1, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; McDonald's All American West guard Alijah Arenas (16) dribbles the ball during the first half of the game McDonald's All American East at Barclays Center. | Pamela Smith-Imagn Images

Before enrolling at USC, Arenas was a consensus five-star recruit, and 247Sports had him ranked as the No. 1 shooting guard prospect and No. 1 recruit from California. Arenas was the No. 7 overall recruit in the class of 2025, according to the same rankings. As one of the top recruits in the country, Arenas was also named a McDonald's All-American.