USC In Contention With Blue Bloods For Highly Touted Utah Transfer

According to Field of 68 reporter, Jeff Goodman, the Trojans are one of the finalists for Utah transfer, guard Terrence Brown. The other schools being considered are the North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas Jayhawks, Kentucky Wildcats, Oregon Ducks, and Ole Miss Rebels. 

Brown will be joining his third different program as he enters year four in college. With the Utes in 2025-26, Brown averaged 19.9 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. He shot 45.3 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from three-point land. He is rated as a four-star transfer according to 247Sports. 

Prior to Utah, Brown was with the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights from 2023-2025. Brown head a breakout season as a sophomore in 2024-25. He averaged 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. He entered the portal after the season. 

Whenever there is a dominant player from a mid-major, there is question marks about if that player’s skillset will be able to translate to a power conference league. Brown showed that he can compete with the bets talent in the country with Utah. 

The Utes are members of the Big 12 conference, widely considered as a top two or top three league in the country. Brown’s 19.9 points per game was the third most in the conference behind BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybansta with 25.5 points per game and Kansas State Wildcats guard P.J. Haggerty with 23.4 points per game. 

Despite having Brown, Utah struggled to pick up wins in 2025-26. The Utes finished with an overall record of 10-22. They were last place in the Big 12 with a conference record of 2-16.

USC's Seeking NCAA Tournament Return

The USC Trojans are coming of an 18-14 season in coach Eric Musselman’s third season at the helm. USC got off to a quick start, going undefeated in non-conference play. They won the 2025 Maui Invitational. 

Unfortunately for USC, they struggled mightily in Big Ten conference play. The Trojans went 7-13 in the Big Ten, tying for 12th place in the league with the Washington Huskies. 

USC found themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering the end of February, but they finished the season on an eight-game losing streak and missed the big dance for the third straight season. 

Some good news that USC received recently is that guard Rodney Rice will be retuning to the team in 2026-27. Rice led the Trojans in scoring last season with 20.3 points per game. He also averaged 6.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds. Rice suffered a season ending shoulder injury after playing in just six games for the Trojans. His return will be massive and a big boost for USC’s tournament hopes for next season.