Ex-Xavier star credits Eric Musselman for USC basketball transfer portal move
03/05/2024 16:00
The USC basketball team is entering a new era as Andy Enfield is no longer the head coach of the Trojans. Eric Musselman came over from Arkansas basketball, and his is now the new head coach at USC. In today’s era of college basketball, the transfer portal is a huge part of any new coach’s first offseason. Musselman has been hard at work in that regard, and he has gotten some good talent. One player coming to USC via the transfer portal is Xavier transfer Desmond Claude.
Desmond Claude should be a big contributor on this USC basketball team next season. Claude just finished up his sophomore season at Xavier, and it was a big one. He only averaged 4.7 PPG during his freshman season, but last year, he averaged 16.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 3.2 APG. It was a big year, and he should make Trojans fans happy next season.
After such a big season, Claude had some good options in the transfer portal. The Big East was certainly one of the better conferences in college basketball last season, and Claude played extremely well against tough competition. He ended up choosing USC, and the plan that Eric Musselman has for him is a big reason why he chose the Trojans.
“The vision that Coach Musselman laid out for me blends perfectly with my playmaking ability, NBA aspirations and ongoing development as a lead guard,” Claude said. “I’m excited to make the next big jump in my development and I’m especially excited to be a part of the USC family.”
Finding a new home in the transfer portal can be difficult, but the decision ended up being a fairly easy one for Desmond Claude. There are a lot of things that he likes about USC and the plan that Musselman has, so it instantly felt like a good fit.
“It honestly felt like a perfect fit from the first call,” Claude said. “The academic support, basketball resources and basketball vision all seemed custom-made for me. Also, Coach Musselman has a proven track record over the past several years of helping big lead guards make the jump to being NBA-ready guards.”
Eric Musselman is hitting the transfer portal hard
This has been a good offseason for Musselman and the USC basketball team in terms of the transfer portal. Desmond Claude was the eighth player to commit to the Trojans via the portal this offseason. Musselman is going to have some good talent to work with, but we’ll see if he will be able to put it all together.
A situation like this one is why the transfer portal is so important in today’s era of college basketball. Before the transfer portal/NIL era, it was much more difficult for a new head coach to build a roster in year one and it would often times take a year or two of rebuilding before they could something going. Now, if a new head coach has a good first offseason in the transfer portal, they can hit the ground running. That’s the goal for Musselman at USC, and he has done a good job so far.
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