Los Angeles Times

USC lands another top basketball recruit

- Staff and wire reports

The nation’s No. 1 basketball recruit is once again headed to USC.

Five-star point guard Isaiah Collier chose the Trojans on Wednesday, handing USC and coach Andy Enfield another monumental victory on the recruiting trail, where the Trojans are certain to sign a top-10 recruiting class for the second consecutiv­e year.

Collier is destined to be the crown jewel of that group, a 6-foot-4 point guard from Georgia capable of conducting USC’s offense from day one. He told ESPN in announcing his commitment that the “family atmosphere” he felt at USC was a deciding factor in his decision to pick the Trojans over UCLA, Cincinnati and Michigan.

For Enfield, signing a five-star facilitato­r for USC’s backcourt makes a major statement. In recent years, a parade of top prospects — from Onyeka Okongwu to Evan Mobley to Vince Iwuchukwu — cycled through the Trojans’ supersized frontcourt, while the backcourt remained barren of the same top-level prospects, instead built largely through the transfer portal.

Collier’s commitment comes just one day after Chatsworth Sierra Canyon’s Juju Watkins, the top girls’ prospect in the country, committed to USC.

— Ryan Kartje

ETC.

Ex-coach guilty of sexual assaults

Former Southern California water polo coach Bahram Hojreh was convicted of sexually assaulting teenage girls during underwater training sessions as he claimed to be preparing them for competitio­n.

Hojreh, 46, coached for the Internatio­nal Water Polo Club in Los Alamitos and La Palma Kennedy High. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12.

Santa Margarita won the first state title of the 2022-23 school year, taking the CIF girls’ golf title, with junior Angela Liu shooting a teambest five-under-par 67.

— Eric Sondheimer

Virginia canceled Saturday’s home football game against No. 23 Coastal Carolina following a shooting on campus that left three players dead and one wounded.

Five-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the final four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Andrey Rublev. Secondseed­ed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-7 (11), 7-6 (1) in the other group match . ... The Australian government confirmed that Djokovic had been granted a visa to compete in the Australian Open in January a year after he was deported because he was not vaccinated for COVID-19.

The Philadelph­ia Eagles put tight end Dallas Goedert (shoulder) on injured reserve and signed veteran defensive tackle Linval Joseph. ... Atlanta cornerback A.J. Terrell returned to practice after sitting out three games with a hamstring injury . ... Quarterbac­k Deshaun Watson practiced with Cleveland for the first time since his 11-game suspension started in August . ... A judge dismissed Josh

Lambo’s lawsuit against Jacksonvil­le; the kicker sought damages for emotional distress caused by former coach Urban Meyer.

Stephen Curry scored 50 points, but the Phoenix Suns beat Golden State 130119 . ... Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a three with 1.1 seconds left and tied his career high with 42 points as Oklahoma City beat Washington 121-120. Bradley Beal (25 points) returned for the Wizards after sitting out five games . ... Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball (26 points), playing just his third game of the season, reinjured his left ankle in a 125-113 loss to Indiana . ... Luka Doncic sat out Dallas’ 101-92 loss to Houston a night after he played 40 minutes in a win over the Clippers . ... Boston’s Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring) sat out his fourth straight game and Marcus Smart (ankle) also sat out 126-101 a win over Atlanta, the Celtics’ eighth in a row.

The ball punched in by Diego Maradona for his “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup was sold at auction for nearly $2.4 million by the referee who missed soccer’s most famous handball . ... Orange County SC fell 2-1 to 2. Bundesliga side Hamburger SV in an internatio­nally friendly in Irvine late Tuesday night.

Stewart-Haas Racing promoted Ryan Preece to replace Cole Custer as its NASCAR Cup Series driver in the No. 41 Ford. Custer will return to the Xfinity Series. ... Ty Gibbs was promoted to the Cup series by Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Kyle Busch, who departed for Richard Childress Racing . ... The Haas Formula One team cut Mick Schumacher.

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