USC Basketball: Trojans Looking To Channel Big Ten Style Via Transfer Portal

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 11, 2024

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman works the referees against South Carolina. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

The offense of USC men's basketball under freshly-hired head coach Eric Musselman could look pretty different next year.

To be fair, part of that is no doubt a result of the Trojans losing all nine of their best players this offseason, due to folks declaring for the NBA draft (freshmen Isaiah Collier and Bronny James), the NCAA transfer portal (everyone else), or both (James).

Musselman plans to overhaul his offensive attack regardless, apparently. Per The Los Angeles Times' Thuc Nhi Nguyen, that appears to be in part a result of the club's transition from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten.

“Stylistically, we gotta have some of the Big Ten characteristics, but also we want to be different,” Musselman said, “so that when we play teams in conference, maybe it’s not a steady diet of what they see every night.”

In its final season under now-SMU head coach Andy Enfield, USC went a paltry 15-18 and missed the NCAA Tournament, despite fielding one of the highest-regarded draft classes in the country. Now, two top Enfield recruits from the high school class of 2024 have decommited, and Musselman is essentially starting fresh in one of the most desirable college markets in the nation.