After surviving a fiery car wreck and successfully skipping his final year of high school to enroll at USC, incoming star freshman Alijah Arenas should be cleared to join the team for practice on Thursday, coach Eric Musselman confirmed.
The five-star guard arrives at USC this summer as the most highly anticipated recruit of Musselman’s tenure. Musselman — who coached Arenas’ father, Gilbert, with the Golden State Warriors — has said on multiple occasions that he expects Arenas to be a difference-maker as a freshman.
The question now is how quickly Arenas can get up to speed after missing the first month of summer practice with a team that was totally rebuilt through the transfer portal.
USC’s coach isn’t concerned about Arenas fitting in. Since arriving on campus, Musselman said, Arenas has made a point to follow the coach around on the court during practice.
“I think he knows the offense, on paper, maybe better than anyone on our team,” Musselman said. “He’s got an innate ability to kind of see things in a different manner.
“I would anticipate him picking it up really quick because he’s come into our office. He’s diagramming stuff during practice. He’s talking to managers and GA’s [graduate assistants] about where he should be on the floor.”
It was a harrowing few months for Arenas leading up to him being cleared at USC. One early morning in late April, he lost control of his Tesla Cybertruck and hit a tree. The vehicle burst into flames, leaving him trapped inside. He was saved by a pair of good Samaritans, but Arenas would spend six days in the hospital before returning home, miraculously, without any lasting injuries.
After finishing his high school classwork so he could graduate a year early, Arenas underwent final medical testing at USC this week, Musselman said. He’ll join at the halfway mark for the Trojans’ summer practice session.
