USC Basketball: Where Isaiah Collier Ranks On Insider's New Top 5 CBB Freshmen List

The former No. 1 high school recruit has flashed plenty of promise thus far.

USC men's basketball standout freshman guard Isaiah Collier was long projected to be one of the elite first-year prospects in the nation this season. A five-star high school recruit out of Murrieta, Georgia, the 6'5" backcourt star has struggled at times with his long range shooting and his fouling, but seems to have perhaps turned a corner over the past week, when he helped propel USC back over a .500 record with wins over the California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal.

Eric Bossi of 247Sports believes that Collier, currently averaging 15.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.6 rebounds a night on an 8-7 club in a tough Pac-12 conference, has made the biggest mark on winning among freshman hoopers this season to date. 

"Overall, USC has been a disappointment," Bossi admits. "But as the highest ranked freshman to play college basketball this season, Isaiah Collier, has been as good as advertised. The powerfully built guard has been an exceptional finisher at the rim and has scored in double figures in all but one of his games."

"The biggest question coming into what is expected to be his only season in college was how well he would shoot the jumper, Bossi continues. "After a hot start from deep, he’s only shooting 31.9% from three. Turnovers are still a bit of a concern, but he only had two total turnovers in the Trojans last two games (wins) against Stanford and Cal. Anybody who has watched him can see that he has elite vision and that his assists numbers would be higher and turnovers down a bit if his teammates did a better job of converting on his dishes."