USC's Reese Dixon-Waters, Malik Thomas to enter transfer portal

USC now must replace its top three leading scorers from this season, as coach Andy Enfield and staff prepare for a significant transition.

Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson were already known to be moving on -- Ellis hasn't made an official announcement that he'll forgo his final season to pursue the NBA but had previously expressed that was his intent -- and the Trojans must add Reese Dixon-Waters to the list.

Dixon-Waters, who ranked third on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game and was named the Pac-12's Sixth Man of the Year, and fellow sophomore guard Malik Thomas (8.2 minutes per game off the bench) are both entering the transfer portal.

Dixon-Waters' departure comes as a bit of a surprise, with offensive focal points Ellis (17.7 PPG) and Peterson (13.9 PPG) moving on.

USC is bringing in two highly-rated freshman guards in five-star point guard Isaiah Collier (the No. 1-ranked prospect in the country) and four-star point guard Silas Demary Jr. (ranked No. 59 overall in the class).

Rising junior guard Kobe Johnson (9.2 PPG) and rising sophomore guard Tre White (9.0 PPG) also figure to move into bigger roles next season, but Dixon-Waters seemed in line to have a major impact.

He averaged more than 27 minutes per game over the Trojans' final eight contests this season and played 30 in the NCAA tournament loss to Michigan State, scoring 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting. His best scoring outputs were 20-point performance vs. Long Beach State, 17 points against Arizona, 17 vs. Cal and 16 vs. UCLA.

Thomas, meanwhile, was a four-star top-100 prospect who had yet to emerge into a big part of the Trojans' rotation. His best game this season was a 10-point effort against Alabama State in November.

The moves clear two scholarship spots for USC, which was otherwise at the maximum 13, to add a transfer or a late addition to the incoming freshman class.