The USC basketball program has leaned heavily on the transfer market in replenishing its roster this offseason, and that continued Monday as Rice transfer Drew Peterson announced his commitment to the Trojans.
Peterson, a 6-foot-8 guard/forward from Libertyville, Ill., started 31 games last season for Rice, leading the team in rebounding (6.5 per game) and assists (3.5 per game) while averaging 11.1 points as a sophomore.
He is not a graduate transfer and thus subject to standard NCAA transfer rules, but USC is expected to pursue an eligibility waiver -- it's not known on what grounds -- and it's also still unknown if a proposed one-time transfer exception with immediate eligibility will be approved and if so when it will be enacted, providing perhaps another possibility.
The Trojans already added three graduate transfers this offseason and another traditional transfer, as Peterson brings the overall incoming transfer count to five.
Peterson started 55 games over the last two seasons while playing in all 64 for Rice.
He scored a season-high 24 points vs. Florida International and had 14 games with at least 15 points last season. He had four double-digit rebound games, including 12 each against UTEP and Houston Baptist. He also shot 32.8 percent from 3-point range, making 44 3s.
Peterson initially committed to Minnesota last week after entering the transfer portal before backing off that pledge four days later.
As for USC, the Trojans have needed the influx of transfers after losing seven players from their end-of-season roster due to the graduation, the NBA Draft or transfer attrition. (The total is eight if including in-season transfer Charles O'Bannon).
Only two players who averaged at least 10 minutes per game remain from that team -- starting point guard Ethan Anderson and forward Isaiah Mobley, both rising sophomores.
USC has has 5-star 7-foot center Evan Mobley -- the No. 3 overall prospect nationally -- coming in along with 6-foot-10 3-star center Boubacar Coulibaly, but that's it as far as the incoming freshman class.
So coach Andy Enfield has hit the transfer market hard, adding grad transfer guard Tahj Eaddy (Santa Clara), 6-foot-7 grad transfer guard Isaiah White (Utah Valley), 6-foot-9 grad transfer forward Chevez Goodwin and 6-foot-11 center Joshua Morgan, who was a freshman at Long Beach State last season.
The Trojans also have Noah Baumann, who transferred in from San Jose State a year ago, becoming eligible.
