USC Basketball: Exec For Lottery-Bound NBA Club In Town To Scout Trojans-Buffs

Will anyone in particular catch his eye?

Your underperforming USC Trojans men's basketball team will look to improve its paltry 2023-24 season record to a slightly more respectable, albeit still bad, 11-15 tonight, as it hosts the 16-9 Colorado Buffaloes at the Galen Center. The action tips off... right now on ESPN.

Per beat reporter Luca Evans of The Orange County Register, Memphis Grizzlies vice president of basketball affairs Tayshaun Prince is in attendance for the contest this evening.

As Evans notes, Prince will have an opportunity to check out two top lottery prospects in freshman Colorado forward Cody Williams and Trojans freshman starting guard Isaiah Collier, in addition to the intriguing, high-upside USC reserve guard Bronny James.

Through 16 bouts this season, the 6'8" Williams is averaging 14.3 points on .582/.485/.712 shooting splits, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.8 blocks per bout.

Across 19 contests for USC, the 6'5" Collier has been a bit less polished than fans may have been expecting him to be, as a highly-regarded five-star recruit out of Murrieta, Georgia. He's averaging 15.7 points on a .486/.309/.667 slash line, 4.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds 1.4 steals. Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron, has had insanely modest counting stats, but his athleticism and Hall of Fame genes (plus the potential of LeBron James joining whichever team drafts Bronny, which LeBron has floated as a possibility).

The 20-36 Grizzlies are missing a variety of quality players for the rest of the season, and are far removed from the Western Conference playoff picture. Neither Collier nor James necessarily make sense as positional fits next to injury-prone, troubled Memphis All-Star Ja Morant, but Williams sure does.