Less than two weeks after USC men’s basketball finished a disappointing season with a 70-49 loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals and missed the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament, three players have decided to leave the Trojans and enter the transfer portal.
Sophomore forward Kijani Wright was the first Trojan to leave, entering the portal on March 18. In two seasons with USC, Wright only averaged 10.8 minutes per game. Despite fellow big men Joshua Morgan and Vincent Iwuchukwu missing time with illnesses and injuries, Wright was never able to solidify a bigger role for himself.
Despite increasing his rebounds per game from 1.8 last year to 2.6 this year, he only averaged 0.3 blocked shots per game this year compared to 0.5 last season. Wright leaves the Trojans looking to see more playing time at a new school where he can improve his game with his final two years of eligibility.
Sophomore guard Oziyah Sellers entered the transfer portal on March 19 after two seasons with the Trojans. Despite only averaging 14.3 minutes per game, Sellers made the most of his opportunities, shooting 46.7% from the field with a 3-point percentage of 42.6%, up 11.2% and 16.6%, respectively, from last year. This was most notable when he got the chance to start in six games in place of guards Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier when they were dealing with injuries during the early and middle stretches of the season.
Sellers moves on after proving to be a go-to, yet underutilized weapon for USC offensively. He’ll try to find a new home where he can get more looks as a dangerous shooting option.
Junior guard Kobe Johnson, who has been with USC for the last three seasons, entered the transfer portal on Friday after starting 28 of the 31 games he appeared in this season. His offensive game regressed this season, as he shot 40.4% from the field and 31.3% from the 3-point line this season, both statistics lower than his sophomore season shooting numbers.
Despite doubling his blocks per game from 0.4 to 0.8, his steals per game remained at 2.2, while his rebounds per game dropped from 5.0 to 4.6. Due to his strong defensive play for most of the season, Johnson was named to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team. In addition to entering the portal, Johnson has also declared for the NBA Draft. However, he has opted against hiring an agent in order to maintain his college eligibility as he looks for a fresh start after a tough third year with USC.
With Wright, Sellers and Johnson all moving on, head coach Andy Enfield will have to replace more than just his outgoing seniors in Morgan, Ellis and DJ Rodman. In addition, Collier, who just finished his freshman year with USC, is expected to declare for the draft, while freshman guard Bronny James is still deciding whether to try and join his father LeBron in the NBA. USC will likely be replacing more than half the roster as the team prepares for its first season in the Big Ten next winter.