The USC Trojans are having a strong start to the 2025-26 college basketball season, with 10 wins in their first 11 games. However, USC basketball is not at its full strength of late, with star junior guard Rodney Rice currently sidelined with an upper-body injury that puts his availability not just in the short term but for the rest of the campaign as well in question.
Rice re-aggravated a shoulder injury during a Maui Invitational game on Nov. 25 against the Seton Hall Pirates, and since then, he has not played in five straight games, including USC basketball's 68-61 victory over the Washington State Cougars on Sunday at Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Trojans head coach Eric Musselman spoke about Rice's status after USC improved its record to 10-1 overall.
“There's no update right now,” Musselman said following the Trojans' victory (h/t Connor Morrissette of 247Sports).
Musselman then provided a discouraging outlook on Rice's outlook.
“There's a possibility [he's out for the season], but there's no finality on what happens next.”
Rice, a transfer from the Maryland Terrapins, was among the chief contributors on the floor for the Trojans before suffering the injury. In six games played with USC thus far, he put up averages of 13.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and 37.0 percent from behind the arc.
The Trojans have light assignments in their next two games against the UTSA Roadrunners and the Brown Bears, which USC can survive without Rice, but it gets tougher after that for Musselman's with back-to-back games scheduled against the current No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and No. 9 Michigan State Spartans — both on the road.
