NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 4 teams for 2025 4-star SG Bryce Heard

Another class of 2025 NCAA Basketball prospect to watch is Bryce Heard, a 6'5 guard from Chicago. He's a consensus four-star player, with nice size and a great ability to score from anywhere on the court.. Although he's one of the best players from the state of Illinois, his college options expand to across the nation.

Recently, Heard has reportedly limited his options to a final four, with a decision in the coming days. But do any of these teams stand out as a potential great fit? Below is a closer look at each roster situation.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

There's a lot of depth on the current Mississippi State backcourt, including senior transfer guards, Claudell Harris Jr. and RJ Melendez. They'll be gone, while fellow transfer Riley Kugel and sophomore guard Josh Hubbard could be NBA Draft candidates to watch. Coach Chris Jans has shown an willingness to play freshmen and there should be a path to early playing time for someone like Heard early on.

NC State Wolfpack

Coach Kevin Keatts has a nice track record when it comes to guard development, with DJ Horne and Casey Morsell being stars of last season's team. With Jayden Taylor and incoming transfer Marcus Hill leaving after next year, there's going to be a need for a future lead guard. That being said, the Wolfpack already has a commitment from 4-star guard RJ Greer so they may focus on the frontcourt for its next commit.

USC Trojans

New Coach Eric Musselman added 10+ transfers this offseason, most of whom being upperclassmen. That includes senior transfers, Clark Slajchert and Bryce Pope, as well as star Xavier transfer, Desmond Claude. They also added Wesley Yates, a former top-50 prospect at Washington in the backcourt. Considering that Musselman loves to add transfers each offseason, Heard will have to be careful that he's not buried on the depth chart a year from now.

Xavier Musketeers

With Desmond Claude gone, the future pathway for an off-guard to get viable minutes has cleared up a bit. Transfers Dante Maddox Jr. and Marcus Foster will be around for just one year, while Indiana State transfer Ryan Conwell has two years of eligibility left.

Even if the program lands transfers, Heard has a good shot at being part of the rotation early on and Coach Sean Miller always finds a way to develop any type of scoring guard into an all-league performer.