Jan 14, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

USC Trojans Basketball's Eric Musselman Thriving Amid Ranked Big Ten Schedule

Originally posted on USC Trojans on SI
By Gabriel Duarte | Last updated Jan 17, 2025 4:16 PM ET

When the USC Trojans men's basketball team lost three consecutive games in the beginning of the season, the immediate future of the program seemed blurry. The team dropped games to New Mexico, Saint Mary's, and Oregon, falling to a 5-4 record before the team regrouped. The Trojans strung together a four-game win streak and brought life back to the season.

Although he was tasked with rebuilding the roster from scratch, USC coach Eric Musselman has been able to establish foundational pieces in his first year at the helm of the Trojans.

Musselman's inaugural roster took a little over a month to build through the transfer portal. His focus was towards building a roster with postion-less players and that has paid dividends with players like USC guard/forward Saint Thomas.

Thomas has been able to use his 6-7, 235-pound frame to do a bit of everything on the court for the Trojans. He averages 10.5 points, 6.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds a game. He tacks on 1.4 steals per game as well.

Musselman said after USC's 99-89 win over Iowa on Jan. 14 that Thomas embodies everything a coach would want from a player on the court.

"He's been great...he wants to be a defensive stopper. I think he's really been focusing defensively. And I think he's trying to find, like, where do we have holes, and then how can he plug in. He can do so many things. He's like a baseball player that you can put him in at shortstop, second base, center field, left field, right. He's one of those guys. You can just kind of put them all over," Musselman said.

USC has showed flashes of what Musselman has been preaching all season long. The Trojans have shown toughness, effort, and high-flying offense throughout Musselman's first season. After the Trojans broke their win streak with back-to-back conference losses to Michigan and Indiana, it seemed as if things could've gone from bad to worse. Once again, USC buckled down and got two of their biggest wins of the season vs. Iowa and Illinois.

The two most recent efforts from the Trojans have been their two best performances of the season. Their win over Iowa and their first road ranked win since 2011 vs. No. 13 Illinois on Jan. 11 will be looked back on as some of the key moments in Musselman's first year with the program.

Musselman and his squad will have a chance to make the foundation of his tenure at USC even bigger with a few more Quad 1 opportunities, including against Michigan State, Purdue, and Oregon later on in the season.

This article first appeared on USC Trojans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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