Trojans eager to unleash freshman Collier
LOS ANGELES » The relationship that'll define a season began as soon as Isaiah Collier stepped foot on USC's campus this summer.
Boogie Ellis, entering his third year of a remarkable Trojans transformation from quiet gunner to stalwart gym rat, recognized what was coming. Collier, the top recruit in the nation, is perhaps the most explosive talent coach Andy Enfield has drawn in his 11 years helming USC, a stop-and-start lead guard with a running back's center of gravity and innate feel for the game.
So Ellis, returning junior Kobe Johnson said, “tried to get on that as early as he could.” He hit the gym with Collier each morning at 6 or 7 a.m., working with the same trainers, the freshman working with Ellis on honing a jumper that's perhaps the only question mark in his game.
“Off the court,” Ellis said of Collier, “that's like my best friend.”
Chemistry, in the case of this veteran flamethrower and young maestro, goes further than some off-court hangouts and team dinners.
It is paramount to USC's hopes this season, the Trojans coming off a 22-11 campaign that sputtered late. This is a group low on size but high on athleticism, bristling with playmakers and versatile threats ready to, as Ellis said, turn games into track meets.
At the epicenter are Ellis and Collier, both whirlwinds in transition, one a natural distributor and the other natural scorer.
“We're only going to go as far,” Johnson said, “as those two take us.”
Here is a list of top questions for this tantalizing group in 2023-24, starting with that backcourt:
HOW WELL DO ELLIS AND COLLIER CLICK? » Fifth-year senior Ellis, at heart, is neither really a true point guard nor a spot-up off-guard. In a breakout 2022-23 season, without a traditional point, Ellis often played the role of lead guard, his facilitating ticking up in addition to 17.7 points a game.
He fits more naturally, though, next to someone of Collier's profile: a one-man fastbreak, able to attract defensive attention to stop the ball and kick out to shooters.
Collier, who floats somewhere around the top five of most preliminary 2024 NBA mock drafts, has expressed to teammates multiple times he wants to lead the nation in assists, new transfer forward D.J. Rodman said.
“It helps me a lot,” Ellis said of Collier's arrival, “especially because I can go off the ball, score when I need to. That's going to take a lot of pressure off me. A lot of more catch-and-shoots, a lot more coming off screens, stuff like that. So guys not gonna be able to double … It's gonna be scary.”
WHAT ROLE CAN BRONNY JAMES PLAY? » James' attitude, and recovery, from a truly shocking cardiac arrest this summer has inspired teammates and eased minds.
Just a couple months after rampant speculation he might never play basketball again, James has been seen with the team after practices, donning a “James Jr.” jersey for the men's team's introduction at USC's “HoopLA” introduction in October, and in expressively high spirits.
The hype-magnet freshman had begun rehab, father LeBron James said at the Lakers' media day at the start of October. The timeline for recovery from surgery to correct a congenital heart defect is generally around three months, depending on circumstance. Under that schedule, James could reasonably return shortly into the beginning of conference play in early January.
The on-court possibilities, if James does make a return and can contribute, are invigorating. USC going small and playing Collier, Ellis, James and Johnson at the same time would overwhelm teams with speed in transition and pesky, switchable defenders — and threaten the integrity of Galen Center rims on fast-break jams. HOW DOES USC MANAGE A LACK OF SIZE? » The key to the Trojans' ceiling this year, as Ellis put it simply: rebounding. USC ranked eighth in the Pac-12 last season in rebounding margin, and the Trojans are light on size again behind returning center Joshua Morgan. Rodman's ability to crash the glass as a 6-foot-6 tweener forward will be key.