LOS ANGELES — On Thursday afternoon, Eric Musselman found out the future of his USC basketball program was going to drastically change – at the same time as thousands of viewers on YouTube.
They do things differently on “Gil’s Arena,” as host Josiah Johnson said, a podcast run by former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas. And on Thursday, as Gilbert brought son Alijah Arenas out to announce a monumental collegiate decision, the five-star Chatsworth High senior pulled out his phone to FaceTime the coach of his future program.
He rung Musselman, in the midst of USC’s head coach’s preparation for Thursday’s practice, and delivered the news: He was committing to USC.
“WHAT!?” Musselman shouted, predictably sparing not one drop of energy. “Let’s go! Are you serious? Let’s go!”
It was a worthy reaction, as Musselman and USC’s staff have spent a series of long months since April trying to gain a foothold with a slew of local talent. And after the Trojans landed St. John Bosco guard Elzie Harrington at the end of December, Musselman’s rebuild is suddenly on the fast-track with Arenas’ pledge, a 6-foot-6 standout guard who’s lit up Los Angeles City Section basketball for years.
To be successful at USC, Musselman has said publicly, his staff needed to recruit L.A. The second day they arrived in Los Angeles from Arkansas, they called Harrington, who committed to Harvard in June before flipping to USC in December with a desire to remain closer to home. And as soon as the NCAA’s permissible period for programs to contact high school sophomores began in June, USC was there at Chatsworth the “first available day” they could reach out, as Chatsworth coach Sam Harris recalled.
In December, then-junior Arenas reclassified from the class of 2026 to 2025, in the midst of a career averaging more than 31 points a game at Chatsworth. USC put on a “full-court press” in his recruitment after that point, Harris said, a rotating cast of staff members showing up at virtually every opportunity throughout the year. There was a coach at Chatsworth’s game against Etiwanda on Nov. 23. And at Crenshaw on Dec. 5. And at Cleveland on Jan. 24.
Musselman, Arenas’ trainer Zach Becerra said, would call Arenas at random times on random days, their conversation dipping well beyond basketball. One day, Becerra remembered, Arenas was on the phone with Musselman for an hour talking about his dogs and training them.
“Musselman,” Becerra said, “has been all over him.”
Arenas, too, was present for USC’s clash with UCLA on Monday night. The Trojans lost 82-76 to the Bruins on their home floor at Galen Center, but they won the battle for a prized local recruit, with Musselman commenting postgame that he hoped anyone in attendance would note how hard his program was competing in Year One under his regime.
There is little tangible foundation for Musselman to sell to recruits, at the moment, beyond a group that simply competes and his own track record. USC sits at 12-8 and in the middle of the Big Ten pack at 4-5; most key players from this year’s transfer-heavy roster will be gone come 2025-26. But Musselman had a natural tie to Arenas, coaching father Gilbert in 2002-03 while the head coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. And the 6-foot-6 Arenas fits snugly with Musselman’s love for versatility, a wing capable of playing or guarding one-through-five, as Harris described.
And Musselman, in part, sold Arenas on his track record of developing one-and-done guard talent for the NBA, Becerra said. There was Moses Moody at Arkansas in 2020-21, and Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. in 2022-23.
“Musselman has a great history of five-star guys going there and playing high-level minutes as freshmen, being able to have the freedom to play through mistakes,” Becerra said.
Arenas chose USC over an expressed final five of Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville and Kansas, all programs that can tout either more successful seasons or a longer national track record of success. But he’d done the same thing, in many ways, in high school, as Harris said: Arenas has spent three years at a City Section program in Chatsworth, eschewing an easy opportunity to transfer to a high-profile Southern Section program or prep school.
“I think it’s kind of his personality to just, not essentially join forces but to like, make his name,” Harris said of Arenas. “And be a part of something that’s out of the norm, you know?”
Even with Arenas as a potential one-and-done recruit, the future of Musselman’s USC program is solidifying. USC suddenly has the seventh-ranked class of 2025 in the country, according to 247Sports. And their 2025-26 team, in all likelihood, will revolve around a player whose father Musselman coached two decades ago.