Pac 12 Preview: USC

Pac 12 Preview: Southern Cal
First an recruiting update. Arizona has landed 6-0 2019 Guard Tara Manumaleuga from Australia.

Now USC
Last Season: 20-11 overall and just 9-9 in Pac 12 play. Quite an improvement over the previous season in this staff’s first season.

The Coaches: Mark Trakh has returned to USC for his 2nd season after six seasons as the Head Coach at New Mexico State. Mark coach for 5 seasons at USC before New Mexico. New Mexico State lost just 2 league games in the past 3 seasons. Mark started as a Head Coach at Pepperdine in 1994.

Jason Glover is in his 2nd season as the Associate Head Coach. Glover joined Mark at New Mexico State two seasons after several years coaching in both the NBA and the WNBA.

Aarika Hughes returns for her 2nd season to USC where she played. Hughes coached for 5 years at New Mexico State. She was a HS teammate of JJ Hones and Colorado assistant Alex Earl.

Blanche Alverson is like the other assistants in their second year at USC after 2 seasons at New Mexico State.



Losses:
Kristen Simon is a major loss after averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Sadie Edwards like Simon graduated. Last season she averaged 13 points.

Jordan Adams I believe now has her Masters after 6 years at USC out two with major injuries. Adams averaged 5 points.
USC lost 52% of their points from last season.



Additions:
Shalexxus Aaron is a 6-1 Redshirt Frosh Guard from SoCal who played her first three years of HS in Washington. Aaron was ranked # 57. Her brother is on the USC Men’s Basketball team.

Mariya Moore is a transfer from Louisville. She is a 6-0 Wing and must sat out this past season. Her sister Minyon is a starter on this team. Mariya averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for Louisville last season and is their # 13 all time leading scorer. She is a huge addition.

Desiree Caldwell is a 5-8 Frosh Point Guard from Texas ranked # 14.

Cheyanne Wallace is a 6-0 Forward and a Grad transfer from Loyola Marymount. Last season Wallace averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds.

Kayla Overbeck is a 6-1 Jr Froward originally from SoCal who transferred after 2 seasons at Vanderbilt. Kayla averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds last season. She was just declared eligible for this coming season. A huge break for the Trojans.

Jill Archer is a 6-2 Frosh Forward from SoCal, ranked # 54.



The Schedule:
Playing Texas A&M on the road there is maybe by far USC’s toughest game. Routine type schedule.
They play the Arizona schools only on the road and Washington schools only at home.



The Team:
Minyon Moore is a 5-8 Jr guard who has started at Point Guard the past two seasons. Minyon led the team in assists with 5.5 per game and scored 13 points per game.

Aliyah Mazyck is a 5-9 Sr Guard who averaged 16 points per game. She also made 86 threes however at 32%.
Ja’Vavia Tapley is a 6-3 Jr Forward who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Asiah Jones is a 6-3 Redshirt Soph Forwards who averaged 2 points and 3 rebounds two years ago, sitting out this past season. .
Marquerite Effa is a 6-3 Sr Post who has played very little at USC.

Dani Milisic is a 6-4 Redshirt Jr Post from Australia. Last season she played just a total of 90 minutes.



Predictions:
Only two returnees who saw much action, however both Minyon Moore and Mazyck should be All League along with transfer Mariya Moore, Minyon’s sister. Aaron, Caldwell, Overbeck and Wallace will be in the top 7 with two starting. Not a deep team and five of the seven haven’t played for USC before, but the talent is there for a solid team.



2019 Recruiting Commits:
Madison Campbell is a 5-11 Guard from Central California ranked # 9