USC's highest-ranked basketball recruits of the Rivals era

Top-30 national prospect Bronny James officially signed his National Letter of Intent with USC last week, become the latest headline recruit for Andy Enfield and the Trojans.

Landing James -- the son of NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James -- pushed the Trojans to No. 3 (behind Kentucky and Duke) in the Rivals basketball recruiting rankings, as he joins five-star point guard and No. 1 national prospect Isaiah Collier and four-star forward Arrinten Page (No. 48 overall) in USC's incoming freshman class.

Here's a look at the Trojans' 10 highest-ranked men's basketball recruits in the Rivals era -- which dates back to 2003 -- and how their college careers played out:

Isaiah Collier, the incoming five-star freshman from Marietta, Ga., is the highest-ranked recruit for USC over the 21-year Rivals era.

Here's what Rivals basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy said about his potential:

"Collier is, as things stand, the most complete point guard in this class. The broad-shouldered Georgia native has a deep bag of offensive weapons that make him difficult to game plan for. Collier is a natural facilitator that rarely makes bad decisions with the basketball in his hands and routinely puts teammates in position to shine. From a scoring standpoint, his size allows him to penetrate the lane and kick or absorb contact and finish in traffic."

RELATED: Collier finishes as top-ranked recruit in 2023 class | What USC is getting in Collier

DeMar DeRozan chose USC over Arizona State and North Carolina and was an immediate success in his lone season with the Trojans in 2008-09, averaging 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while helping USC to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He elevated his play down the stretch, averaging 19.8 points over five postseason games and was taken 9th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. He's been a six-time NBA all-star, playing with the Raptors, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.

Evan Mobley delivered on all the hype and expectations, sweeping Pac-12 Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, becoming just the second major conference player to ever win all three awards in the same year (joining Kentucky's Anthony Davis). Mobley averaged 16.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game in leading the Trojans to the 2021 Elite Eight -- their best finish in 20 years. He was then drafted 3rd overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers and was named to the NBA All-Defense First-Team this season.

Another one-and-done star, O.J. Mayo averaged 20.7 points in his lone season with the Trojans in 2007-08, earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors and led USC to the NCAA tournament. But he was retroactively ruled to have been ineligible for receiving impermissible benefits, resulting in USC vacating all of its wins that season and accepting a postseason ban for the following year. Nonetheless, Mayo was drafted No. 3 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves (and traded that same day to the Memphis Grizzlies). He played for the Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks (through the 2015-16 season) and presently plays for a professional team in Egypt.

**Robert Swift, the No. 14-ranked prospect in the 2004 class, committed to USC but opted to bypass college and go straight to the NBA. He was the 12th overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Seattle SuperSonics.

His Rivals profile card doesn't show it, but Davon Jefferson was the No. 15-ranked prospect in the 2006 recruiting class as a local standout at Lynwood HS before delaying college with a year of prep school in North Carolina. He played only one season for the Trojans, averaging 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in 2007-08, before declaring for the NBA draft. Unfortunately, he went undrafted, but his professional career is still active overseas. He's played in Israel, France, Russia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Turkey, Ukraine, Italy and Nicaragua.

The second current Trojan on the list, Vincent Iwuchukwu's story is well-known by now. He went into cardiac arrest on the practice court last summer, yet incredibly made it back to play in 14 games last season, averaging 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. The modest stats are partly a function of the minutes limit he played with as he eased back into competitive basketball. He had season-highs of 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks vs. Oregon State.

Kevin Porter averaged 9.5 points and 4 rebounds per game in his lone season at USC in 2018-19. He missed time with injury and was also suspended for "conduct issues," ultimately playing in just 21 games. In general, he was a raw talent still working to put everything together at that time. He had 11 double-digit scoring games, including a high of 17 in his final game as a Trojan, in the Pac-12 tournament vs. Washington. Nonetheless, Porter was selected at the end of the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and then traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was later traded to the Houston Rockets and signed a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension in Oct. of 2022. He averaged 19.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game this past season.

Isaiah Mobley came in with fellow five-star Onyeka Okongwu (No. 10 on this list) in the 2019 recruiting class. He didn't expect to be at USC as long as he was, but he made the most of his three years in the program, improving his production each season. He was part of the Trojans' Elite Eight team as a sophomore in 2020-21 and came back to average career-highs of 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as a junior. He was drafted in the second round with the 49th overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, reuniting with his brother Evan Mobley.

And here we get to Bronny James at No. 9 on our list. James averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals during his senior season at Sierra Canyon HS and was named a McDonald's All-American. While he won't be the highest-ranked prospect on his own team next year, he'll carry the biggest spotlight, especially when his father is in the arena watching him play.

The plan was for Onyeka Okongwu to need a couple years at USC before moving onto the NBA, which would have lined up for him to share the court in Year 2 with fellow five-star Evan Mobley in addition to his freshman five-star teammate Isaiah Mobley. But Okongwu was too good as a freshman -- averaging 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game -- and was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Okongwu's lone season at USC happened to be the pandemic season in which the NCAA tournament was cancelled, so the Trojans were left with two major what-ifs -- what could that team have done in the postseason with an NBA lottery pick leading the way, and what might have been had the plan held for Okongwu to return as a sophomore and team up with both Mobley brothers?

No. 32 (2006) Taj Gibson

No. 41 (2015) Chimezie Metu

No. 43 (2017) Charles O'Bannon Jr.

No. 46 (2004) Gabriel Pruitt

No. 48 (2023) Arrinten Page

No. 49 (2014) Jordan McLaughlin

No. 49 (2003) Lodrick Stewart