USC Basketball: Elite Recruits For Future Trojans Surprisingly Close

Here’s hoping Andy Enfield’s future recruiting classes are a bit better than this year’s crop.

We understand that you want to move on from talking about the 2023-24 edition of your USC Trojans. The team has fallen to a 9-15 record on the season (3-10 in the Pac-12 so far), and basically would need to win the Pac-12 Tournament to even qualify for the Big Dance.

When it comes to adding recruits in the future, as Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times relays, USC head coach Andy Enfield may want to look to his own back yard — especially for the classes of 2025 and ‘26.

“Tounde Yessoufou, a 6-foot-5 junior small forward from Santa Maria St. Joseph, reminds some of a young Jimmy Butler with his strength and ability to score in a variety of ways,” Bolch writes.

“Brandon McCoy, a 6-foot-4 sophomore point guard from St. John Bosco, is a relentless competitor who runs a team and attacks the basket with equal fearlessness,” per Bolch.

“Jason Crowe Jr., a 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard from Lynwood, is a natural scorer who has topped 2,000 points in less than two seasons,” Bolch adds.

Among the class of 2026, three local products are considered five-star recruits: McCoy, Crowe and Chatsworth’s Alijah Arenas.

So maybe 2024 isn’t USC’s year. But as a program coming into its own as a recruiting powerhouse, the future could still be bright.