Breaking down Eric Musselman's almost complete USC roster rebuild

On Monday night in a hotel ballroom in Newport Beach, Eric Musselman grabbed the microphone and started talking to a room full of donors and USC legends in general terms about the men's basketball team he's been busy building.

"A lot of new faces for sure," he said, drawing laughs.

There was no other option in that regard for Musselman, who was ultimately left with just one holdover from the Trojans' 2023-24 roster -- reserve forward Harrison Hornery.

The rest he'd have to build from scratch, but in the transfer portal era of college athletics, that can be done in a matter of weeks.

Which is exactly what Musselman has done, now filling out 12 of his 13 available scholarship spots with nine transfers, two high school prospects and Hornery.

"This is the first night that I have not been with a recruit, basically, since I've been here," Musselman told the room Monday night. "So it's been a really, really busy three weeks and a whirlwind."

As he talked Monday night, that job still wasn't done.

"We have a core group right now that are committed that we're extremely excited about. We built the team, especially in Year 1, a group of players we think are going to play really, really hard and set a standard in Year 1," Musselman said. "We still need to fill out the roster, hopefully with a few stars that the roster is probably missing right now. Hopefully, this is a big week for us."

It was.

USC added two of its most notable transfer additions in the last handful of days, with the commitments of 6-foot-7 forward and Michigan team captain Terrance Williams II on Tuesday morning and 6-foot-6 point guard Desmond Claude from Xavier on Thursday.

Musselman's roster rebuild to that point had largely been compromised of productive, veteran mid-major standouts and was lacking a clear point guard. In adding a proven Big Ten performer and established Big East point guard, he checked some final boxes on the Trojans' to-do list and fortified a roster that is hard to project but packed with potential.

Overall, here are the new pieces joining the Trojans for the 2024-25 season: 6-foot-10 forward Josh Cohen (UMass), 6-3 guard Bryce Pope (San Diego), 6-1 guard Clark Slajchert (Penn), 6-7 forward Saint Thomas (Northern Colorado), 6-6 forward Matt Knowling (Yale), 6-7 guard Chibuzo Agbo (Boise State), 6-8 forward Rashaun Agee (Bowling Green), 6-7 forward Williams II (Michigan) and 6-foot-6 point guard Claude (Xavier), along with commitments from 6-5 guard and top-40 national prospect Isaiah Elohim and 6-8 four-star forward Jalen Shelley (ranked the No. 62 overall national prospect).

USC's 2024-25 roster rebuild

*One scholarship spot remaining.

Player	Last season	Year	2023-24 stats

Josh Cohen, 6-10 F	UMass	6th-year SR	15.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 54.4% FG, All-Atlantic 10 First Team
Bryce Pope, 6-3 G	San Diego	6th-year SR	18.3 PPG, 33.2% 3FG (74-223), All-Big West First Team
Clark Slajchert, 6-1 G	Penn	5th-year SR	18.0 PPG, 42.2% 3FG (57-135), All-Ivy League Second Team
Saint Thomas, 6-7 F	Northern Colorado	SR	19.7 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 47.2% FG, 86.8 FT%, 33% 3FG (65-197), 28 blocks, 53 steals, All-Big Sky First Team
Matt Knowling, 6-6 F	Yale	5th-year SR	11.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 56.7% FG, previously All-Ivy League First Team in 2022-23
Chibuzo Agbo, 6-7 G	Boise State	5th-year SR	13.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 40.9% 3FG (76-186)
Rashaun Agee, 6-8 F	Bowling Green	SR	13.3 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 57% FG, All-MAC Second Team
Terrance Williams II, 6-7 F	Michigan	5th-year SR	12.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, team captain, 39.7% 3FG (52-131)
Desmond Claude, 6-6 PG	Xavier	JR	16.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.2 APG, Big East Most Improved Player
Harrison Hornery, 6-10 F	USC	SR	3.3 PPG in 13.8 MPG
Isaiah Elohim, 6-5 G	HS	FR	No. 40 national prospect
Jalen Shelley, 6-8 SF	HS	FR	No. 62 national prospect

So let's take a look at how all those pieces might fit together ...

What USC has: Experience with nine players who started for their previous schools, plenty of capable scorers, ample perimeter shooting (Slajchert, Pope, Thomas, Agbo and Williams were all productive perimeter shooters last season), some rebounding albeit with an undersized front court, and now a true point guard to run the offense in Claude.

What USC lacks: Primarily, the size needed to match up with most Big Ten opponents.

Analysis: It will be interesting to see what Musselman does with his final scholarship spot, if anything, be it a high school recruit to develop for the future or another transfer -- if so, a second point guard or some true size on the interior would be the priorities.