Tracking USC men’s basketball’s transfer portal cycle thus far

The college basketball transfer portal is now open. For Eric Musselman and USC, it figures to be a busy stretch as the Trojans look to rebuild their roster once again.

Even before the portal officially opened, USC suffered a loss when freshman Jerry Easter II revealed his intention to enter it. However, Easter is not the only Trojan to hit the portal, as USC has seen two other transfer departures.

One of those is Jordan Marsh. A transfer from UNC Asheville who started his college career at Appalachian State, Marsh was perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of this past season for the Trojans, as he averaged just 7.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Marsh will best be remembered at USC for his wild buzzer-beater to take down Troy in triple overtime back in November. (Doesn’t that feel like it was several years ago, not less than five months?)

In addition, the Trojans are losing Amarion Dickerson, who transferred in from Robert Morris last offseason after originally playing at the junior college level. Dickerson appeared in eight games for USC early in the year before suffering a hip injury in December that sidelined him him for the rest of the season.

As they say, however, the transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh. This week, the Trojans picked up their first portal addition of the offseason when they landed Georgetown transfer KJ Lewis. Lewis averaged 14.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest as a junior with the Hoyas this past season.

Given the current state of college basketball, expect USC to have numerous more transfer moves this offseason. It will be a crucial portal cycle for Musselman as the pressure starts to mount on him heading into year three in Los Angeles.