USC basketball experienced its ups and downs in its first season in the Big Ten last year. The Trojans finished with a 17-18 overall record and a 7-13 record in Big Ten play.
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Trojans were hoping to take a step forward with Alijah Arenas, but his recent injury has created a crushing blow to USC's season.
Alijah Arenas injury status
Gilbert Arenas, Alijah's father, experienced multiple injuries that took a toll on his NBA career. Now his son Alijah is experiencing the same fate before his college career with USC even begins. Arenas suffered a torn meniscus that will require surgery and will miss 6 to 8 months, which could be the entire season.
The news comes just after Arenas made his practice debut earlier this month after being involved in a car crash in April that left him hospitalized for almost a week.
Arenas comes into this season as one of the top recruits in the country out of Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard was named a McDonald's All-American after scoring more than 3,000 points in three seasons of high school basketball, which was a CIF LA City Section record.
Not all hope is lost for the Trojans next season, given the timetbale of Arenas' injury, he could return for the end of the season and the NCAA Tournament, that's assuming that USC qualifies for. The Trojans also have two talented transfers on the perimeter to help fill the loss of Arenas with Maryland guard Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara from Auburn.
The Trojans have been down this road before with another top recruit
While he didn't miss an entire season, USC has experienced injury scares with another top recruit, Bronny James. Before the start of the 2023-24 season, Bronny suffered from cardiac arrest in a practice caused him to be hospitalized.
Bronny was cleared to play for the Trojans that season, playing in 25 games, starting in six of them. He averaged 4.8 points per game, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in his one season at USC. Bronny declared for the NBA Draft after one season for the Trojans and was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 54th pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
The year before, five-star recruit Vincent Iwuchukwu suffered cardiac arrest in the offseason and missed the first 16 games of his freshman season. He has since transferred to Georgetown.