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USC Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Trojans

By Drew Dinnhaupt

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Jonah Mathews #2 of the USC Trojans brings the ball up the court against the Oregon Ducks during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Trojans won 74-54. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Jonah Mathews #2 of the USC Trojans brings the ball up the court against the Oregon Ducks during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Trojans won 74-54. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 09: Head coach Andy Enfield of the USC Trojans signals to his players during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Oregon Ducks at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Trojans won 74-54. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 09: Head coach Andy Enfield of the USC Trojans signals to his players during a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Oregon Ducks at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Trojans won 74-54. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

USC Basketball hopes to rebound from a very disappointing 2017-18 season. Do the Trojans have the talent to do so for this upcoming campaign?

Starting off ranked No. 10 in preseason AP poll, USC basketball had very high expectations with its talented roster last season. Yet, the Trojans failed to make the NCAA Tournament come March and needed double-overtime to defeat 8-seeded UNC-Asheville in the first round of the NIT. Granted, the Trojans were surely snubbed from the tournament after a 23-11 season that included an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship. Not to mention, USC finished second in the Pac-12 regular season standing at 12-6, tying its best conference record of the century.

Andy Einfield has built USC’s basketball program in extremely impressive fashion. In Einfield’s first season in 2013-14, the Trojans finished 2-16 in conference play. In fact, USC has improved in each of its five seasons under Enfield.

USC’s two best players – Chimezie Metu and Jordan McLaughlin–have both departed from the program. Metu, USC’s top scorer (15.7 points per game) and rebounder (7.4 rebounds per game), was the No. 49 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. McLaughlin, who rather surprisingly didn’t land on an NBA roster, averaged 12.8 points per game and a team-leading 7.8 assists per game, the fourth-highest mark in the country.

USC barely cracked Joe Lunardi’s most recent bracketology as a No. 12 seed, where they will need a play-in game to make the Round of 64.

Did Lunardi underestimate the Trojans’ ceiling, or is USC expected to take a step back from last year? I break down everything to expect from USC this year.

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