USC’s Isaiah Collier reportedly declares for the NBA draft

Freshman guard Isaiah Collier is planning to enter the NBA draft, ESPN reported Wednesday, leaving USC‘s roster almost completely bare as new head coach Eric Musselman takes over.

Even before Musselman’s hire, Collier’s return seemed unlikely as he was projected as a first-round draft pick. The 6-foot-5 point guard was the No. 1 overall recruit and averaged 16.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while being named to the Pac-12 all-freshman team. The speedy guard was considered a potential No. 1 pick early in the season before suffering a broken hand that kept him out for four weeks, which coincided with a six-game losing streak for the Trojans.

Without Collier, USC is set to lose its top nine scorers and 10 of the 11 scholarship players who saw significant minutes. Harrison Hornery, who averaged 3.3 points per game in 26 appearances, will be USC’s leading returning scorer. The Trojans may also be without any incoming freshmen as all three of the program’s high school signees asked out of the national letters of intent and opened up their recruitment after the coaching change.

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Musselman has been combing the transfer portal to patch up the roster. He flipped former Massachusetts guard Josh Cohen’s commitment from Arkansas to the Trojans last week and added a commitment from former Penn guard Clark Slajchert on Wednesday. The former Oak Park star led Penn in scoring with 18 points per game last season while shooting 42.2% from three-point range. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard was named second-team All-Ivy by coaches. He has one year of eligibility remaining because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is unable to play at Penn again as Ivy League schools don’t allow athletes to play as graduate students.

The Ivy League transfer rule has already been a boon to USC basketball. Three former Ivy Leaguers starred for the USC women’s team that went to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994.