There have been moments this preseason for the USC basketball team that have only furthered the already sky-high expectations for 5-star freshman forward Evan Mobley -- moments that have caused teammates and coaches alike to stop and appreciate what they just witnessed.

"He had a couple blocked shots early in training camp -- I think one he was under the basket and he ran out to the top of the key and blocked Tahj Eaddy's shot back to halfcourt," coach Andy Enfield recalled. "Off of one foot, put two hands up and kind of volleyball-blocked it to halfcourt, picked it up, took one dribble and tomahawk-dunked it at the other end. Practice just stopped for about 8-9 seconds. I think the players and the coaching staff couldn't believe what they saw.

"A couple dunks he's had have just been spectacular. He caught one with his left hand ... about a foot and a half above the rim and dunked it just with his left hand. Things like that that are just hard to do."

The 7-footer -- who joins his older brother Isaiah on the roster and will play for his father, USC assistant coach Eric Mobley -- has already been added to the Naismith Award watch list for national player of the year consideration ... before ever playing a collegiate game.

Those are the kind of expectations that have followed the two-time Gatorade California Player of the Year, Morgan Wooten National Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American and Rivals' No. 4 national prospect from Rancho Christian School to USC.

And so while the Trojans are opening their season Wednesday night at Galen Center (6 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks) against a rather unknown opponent in California Baptist, the intrigue is considerable nonetheless.

To be fair, it's not all about Mobley. Much is expected from sophomore point guard Ethan Anderson in his second year, 6-foot-10 forward Isaiah Mobley is another prime candidate to take a leap in his second year, and aside from sophomore forward Max Agbonkpolo, the rest of the supporting cast will all be making its Trojans debuts Wednesday night, including a handful of transfers -- guard Tahj Eaddy (from Santa Clara), 6-9 forward Chevez Goodwin (Wofford), 6-7 guard Isaiah White (Utah Valley), 6-8 guard Drew Peterson (Rice), sharpshooting 6-6 guard Noah Baumann (who arrived last year from San Jose State and had to sit out a season) and 6-10 freshman forward Boubacar Coulibaly.

USC will need to get all those pieces working in harmony if it is going to try to push for an NCAA Tournament berth -- a goal the Trojans seemed in line to reach last year before the pandemic shut down the season abruptly.

Ultimately, though, the ceiling for this team has a lot to do with Mobley's own high-end potential and how he can transfer it to the college level, like first-round NBA draft pick Onyeka Okongwu was able to do last year in immediately becoming the focal point of the team.

For his part, the younger Mobley understands the spotlight is on him and that the comparisons to Okongwu have already begun.

"I would say we have similar athleticism, so you're going to see a lot of dunks like you saw from Big O last year, but I can stretch the floor a little more than he can. A lot of playmaking, I'm going to be in the post a lot, just all around really you're going to see me in a lot of different spots this year," he said on the Trojans Live radio show Tuesday night.

Anderson, the Trojans' point guard, offered a similar assessment, with some added adjectives.

"I think he's an absolutely amazing player. His ability to pass the ball has benefitted me a lot because I've improved my jumpshot from last season. He's able to find me in practice four or five times wide open, things I'm not really used to as a point guard, people creating for me. But I feel like having a big man like that that can create their own shot and create for others is amazing," Anderson said. "I've been spoiled with having Big O last season, Evan Mobley, it really makes my job easy. Some of my passes to Evan I don't even have to look -- I just throw it by the rim and I just have faith that he's going to get it and he hasn't failed me yet. And his ability to shoot the 3-pointer, I think he'll have that on full display this season that a lot of people haven't seen yet.

"Him being able to stretch the floor and just be dominant inside, I think it's going to kill this season."

Aside from the scene-stealing dunks in practice, what's really impressed Enfield about his prized recruit has been his passing and unselfishness, noting earlier in camp that Mobley was leading the team in assist to turnover ratio at the time.

That said, he's not a finished product, and how he develops through this season, how close he comes to reaching his own peak potential, could answer the same question about the Trojans as a whole as they lose their top five scorers and top two rebounders from last season.

"He's a developing player, so even though he's spectacular, the cool thing about coaching Evan is he's so enthusiastic about trying to get better. He knows he's not a finished basketball player by any stretch, so he's working hard on parts of his game on both ends of the floor," Enfield said.

Mobley acknowledged he's had to get used to the more physical style of play at the college level, but one aspect that's no doubt helped in his transition has been having his older brother on the court with him. They've grown up playing together, whether it was in high school or AAU or just outdoors on a court somewhere.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to everybody getting to see how well we match and play together," Isaiah Mobley said. "Ive always enjoyed playing with him, like I'm sure he's enjoyed playing with me as well, so getting this opportunity is great."

Said Evan: "On the court, we have a great chemistry. Anywhere I am on the floor he usually sees me and finds me if I'm open. Off the court we spend a lot of time with each other. We're roommates right now. Anytime you see him, I'm probably close by somewhere, so we just have a good relationship on and off the floor."

As for the hype and expectations surrounding him this season, starting Wednesday night, the younger Mobley is looking at it through a much simpler lens.

"I'm really excited for this game -- first college basketball game ever -- so I'm just going to come out there and play as hard as I can, try to do the best I can. Unfortunately there's not going to be fans and that sort of stuff, but I'm just excited and hopefully we get the win," he said.

California Baptist made the jump to Division I in the summer of 2018 and plays in the Western Athletic Conference. The Lancers went 21-10 last season, finishing second in the conference, but they lost their top four scorers from that team.

Their top returning scorer is 6-foot-2 redshirt junior guard Ty Rowell, who averaged 8.1 points in just 8 games. They added 6-foot-11 grad transfer center Gorjok Gak from Florida in the offseason.