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ROSEMONT IL – Coming into the 2024-25 season, the USC Trojans will have an entirely new team. The only returning player from last year's roster is senior forward Harrison Hornery. But there are a few newcomers on the team who are expected to play a major role, specifically Desmond Claude and Saint Thomas. For head coach Eric Musselman, who is also new, he believes his time in the G League will help bring this roster together.
“What happens in the G League is Jeremy Lin plays for you four games and he scores 25, 29 and 32 and the Warriors call and he's gone, and you coach the game the next night. Two weeks later Steve Novak gets called up and then the next day Danny Green gets called up,” Musselman told assembled media during Big 10 Media Day. “But we got a lot of time. We had eight weeks in the summer. We had four weeks thus far, we got another four weeks till we play a game, that should be enough time for players to understand strengths and weaknesses and for coaching staffs to have somewhat of a feel.”
USC was picked to finish 14th in the preseason Big 10 media poll, but for them to outperform expectations and have a successful season, a lot of the on court production is going to need to come from Claude and Thomas.
Desmond Claude fills the combo guard role for USC
Among the notable players the USC Trojans picked up in the transfer portal is Desmond Claude. Claude arrived from Xavier where he was named the Big East Most Improved Player in 2023-24.
Claude is a combo guard, capable of scoring and creating his own shot while being a ball-handler and playmaker who can run the Trojans' offense. While no lineup is set in stone right now with Eric Musselman himself saying he won't know more about rotations until after USC's first couple of preseason games, Claude is probably a good bet to start.
During his early conversations with Musselman, Claude knows his role is probably going to shift more towards being a one.
“For the most part, primarily point guard, that can create for others and create for my own. That's pretty much it, just making the right plays for the most part,” Claude told ClutchPoints during Big 10 Media Day. “And then being able to knock down shots, but also rebounding. I'm an all-around player. I rebound, I pass and then on defense just stop my guy from scoring.”
When Desmond Claude arrived at Xavier, he made an immediate impact being selected to the Big East All-Freshman Team. But he had a breakout season last year, more than doubling his points per game average from 4.7 to 16.6 as a sophomore. He also became a better playmaker dishing out 3.2 assists compared to the 1.8 during his freshman year.
But the next step in his development as he heads into his first year at USC and as a junior, is becoming more consistent with his shooting percentages. Across two seasons at Xavier, he shot a respectable 42.5 percent from the field. But his average from three-point range was 25.3 percent.
Claude knows as a guard, that's got to be higher.
“Just one of the main things is just being consistent from the three, getting my percentages up,” Claude said. “And continue to make good plays and the right passes. But definitely being more consistent from three.”
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Saint Thomas can provide scoring, leadership for USC
While Claude is going to be tasked with being an all-around guard, joining him in the starting lineup could be Saint Thomas. Again, while no potential lineups have been revealed, Thomas is another good bet to earn a starting role.
He arrives at USC after a breakout season as a junior at Northern Colorado. Thomas began his college basketball career at Loyola-Chicago where he played for two seasons before transferring to the Bears. And he emerged as one of the better scorers in the NCAA and a possible NBA draft prospect as per Donovan James of Yahoo Sports.
Coming from mid-major schools, Thomas is ready for his high-major debut, and he believes his experience so far is just as good anyone in the NCAA.
“When I first got to college at Loyola-Chicago, I don't think no high-majors wanted to schedule us because we were Loyola-Chicago and kind of had that rep of going to the tournament and beating bigger schools,” Thomas told ClutchPoints at Big 10 Media Day. “A lot of basketball people, they just discredit a lot of good players down there. Now you see a lot of guys with the transfer portal opening, a lot of those guys were transferring to bigger schools and having the biggest impacts. . .a lot of people from the mid-major level can hoop too, and we're just starting to get recognized.”
When it comes to Saint Thomas' role for the USC Trojans this season, he knows he's going to be counted to score. Last year at Northern Colorado, he just about tripled his scoring average going from 3.2 points to 19.7 points. He shot 47.2 percent from the field and 33 percent from the three-point line.
But as one of the team's upperclassmen, he knows he can step in and be voice on and off the court as well. One of his biggest motivations for this upcoming season is to show that he can produce at a similar level even facing high-major competition on a nightly basis.
“I would say the biggest part of my role this year that I have to take on is being a leader for the team. I would say I'm not the most experienced in that locker room, but I feel like I'm probably one of the most who knows basketball. An IQ person to help out some of the young guys in the locker room. To build chemistry and just to be another voice to them,” Thomas said.
“And kind of just proving to everybody that I can still do it at the same level, coming from a mid-major. I know that's kind of the question, if I can still produce at this level. Just proving that I can still do that.”
