Over the years, the USC Trojans basketball team has had some talented big men to come through the program. Players like Nikola Vucevic and Taj Gibson come to mind. Most recently it's been Evan and Isaiah Mobley who are both now in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Evan Mobley was just named to the All-Defensive First Team and is one of the top rising big men in the league. Isaiah Mobley is looking to turn in a strong Las Vegas Summer League performance into NBA regular season success. USC has another potential quality big man on the roster in sophomore Kijani Wright.

Although Wright did not feature heavily in USC's rotation last season, he gradually got more playing time as the season went on. Wright admitted that it take him a little while to get used to the speed of the college game.

“The physicality, definitely the physicality was one, and then getting up to speed,” Wright told ClutchPoints. “Just trying to learn the system there, playing freelance and getting over everybody for sure.”

A McDonald's All-American, Kijani Wright began his high school basketball career at Windward in Los Angeles before transferring to powerhouse Sierra Canyon. He arrived at USC as a highly-touted freshman but he saw himself behind Joshua Morgan, and even Drew Peterson who can play as a small-ball power forward, in the rotation.

It wasn't until USC was halfway through conference play during the last month of the regular season that Kijani Wright got a chance to play consistent minutes. With Morgan sidelined due to injury and fellow freshman Vince Iwuchukwu on a minutes restriction, Wright was forced into action. He responded well and showed flashes of the player he could be. Even though he wasn't playing so much early in the season, he made sure to keep himself ready in the even that his name was called.

“You've just got to work harder,” Wright said. “You've got to show the coaches that you're working hard and putting in the work. Then that all has to translate on the floor. When you get more minutes and more playing time and you show that work, you'll get more minutes.”

Kijani Wright saw action in 29 games for the USC Trojans last season, all off the bench. He averaged 1.9 points per game and 1.8 rebounds with splits of 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 63.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He played a little under ten minutes per game. He brought a lot of energy and tenacity to the floor albeit sometimes getting into foul trouble.

In the Trojans first round NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State, Wright totaled only six minutes. While he did not have much a defined role last season, he does want to take on a larger role this upcoming season. Although he is still one of the younger players on the team, Wright wants to take on more of a leadership role. He figures to be part of USC's three-big rotation of himself, Morgan and Iwuchukwu.

“I want to be more of a leader,” Wright said. “I want to show more of my offensive skills and show that I can play defense. I can guard the two, the three, the four and the five. This year I really just want to show my offensive side and show that I can be a leader.”

During the offseason, Wright has been playing at the famed Drew League, going up against NBA and overseas pros. While his offense is still a little raw and developing, his activity around the basket is where he can make a huge contribution for the Trojans. He's mobile and quick defensively, he can cover a lot of ground. He can alter and block shots in the paint and he can keep up with ball-handlers.

He has a knack for rebounding too, using his strength and length to hit the glass well. But as he mentioned, he knows that being a consistent offensive threat is going to get him regular rotation minutes. That's been one of his key areas of focus while preparing for this next season.

“Definitely working on my dribbling and staying low,” Wright said. “And then working on my shooting and being able to shoot consistently. I don't think I shot the ball nearly as well as I should have last season. So I think just shooting and dribbling.”

Although the Trojans suffered a key loss in Drew Peterson, they still return much of last season's roster while being bolstered with a highly-touted incoming freshman class. They got a big boost when starting point guard Boogie Ellis announced his intentions to return for a final season at USC. Should the Trojans see crucial improvements from players like Wright, there's no reason why they can't be among the top teams in the Pac-12 this season.

Wright is looking forward to gelling with his new freshman teammates and he's hoping everyone's ready to get to work and get on a roll from the get-go.

“Just competing at a high level with everybody,” Wright said. “We've got some new guys coming in and we're all going to be adjusting to each other. But I want to bring that competitive spirit especially on the offensive side so that I can be ready to compete.”