USC Basketball: Expert Projects 2 New Starters in Trojans' 2023 Lineup

They'll be given responsibility off the jump!

Few universities were as active this offseason when it came down to adding new recruits as USC was and the result was one of their most successful hauls ever. Most high school rankings sites had Isaiah Collier as the best player in his graduating class of 2023 or at least near the top and after a lengthy process, he decided to join the Trojans.

On top of Collier, the likes of Bronny James, Arrinten Page, Brandon Gardner and DJ Rodman all decided to make their way to Southern California as well and the hype surrounding this group has been amazing heading into the new season. This young core paired with USC's returners gives head coach Andy Enfield quite the freedom to experiment with various lineups and give different guys a number of opportunities.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello recently dropped his top 25 CBB teams heading into the new campaign and on top of placing USC at number 21, he also made some predictions for their starting lineup.

In the back court, he believes that Collier will be starting at point guard with returner Boogie Ellis at the shooting guard slot. Ellis' ball-handling has come a long way ever since he first hit the college scene but he'll be able to focus more on getting open shots off-ball with Collier in the mic now.

Borzello also placed third-year wing Kobe Johnson at the starting three slot and this makes a lot of sense. Johnson made strides on both sides of the floor last year and he will easily be this team's best perimeter defender.

Finally, in the front court, he believes that incoming transfer DJ Rodman will take the power forward responsibilities where he thrived last year at Washington State and much like his father Dennis Rodman, excels cleaning up the glass. At center, Borzello named Joshua Morgan as the projected starter. He has been working his way up in the rotation after the past few seasons and it looks like his time has come.