Trojans host CSULA in exhibition game


USC’s men’s basketball team will host an exhibition game against the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles on Saturday at the Galen Center. This is the first exhibition game that the Trojans have held since the 2010-11 season when they beat Point Loma Nazarene. When Cal State Los Angeles comes to town, they will be led by former USC assistant coach Dieter Horton, who is in his first year as the coach of the Golden Eagles.

Round two · Second-year basketball head coach Andy Enfield leads the Trojans into this weekend’s exhibition game against Cal State Los Angeles. - Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

Round two · Second-year basketball head coach Andy Enfield leads the Trojans into this weekend’s exhibition game against Cal State Los Angeles. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

 

In his last year at USC, Horton served as special assistant to then-first-year head coach Andy Enfield, and helped recruit USC’s impressive 2014 class, which was ranked No. 16 by ESPN.com. The freshman class includes guard Malik Marquetti, forward Malik Price-Martin, guard Jordan McLaughlin and guard Elijah Stewart. ESPN.com also ranked McLaughlin as the No. 41 overall recruit for the incoming freshman class across the nation.

Also joining the squad are transfers Katin Reinhardt, a redshirt sophomore guard, and redshirt sophomore forward Darion Clark. The two players will be playing in ther first collegiate games since the 2012-13 season after having to sit out one season for transferring. Reinhardt played his freshman season at UNLV and Clark played at Charlotte before coming to USC.

All of these additions will add depth to a team that has few returning impact players from last year’s campaign. Sophomore forward Nikola Jovanovic and sophomore guard Julian Jacobs will lead the team into battle as they look to improve in the second year under Enfield.

Jovanovic will try to use his experience over the summer on the Pac-12 All Star team to bring the team success this season. Jovanovic led the All Star team to a perfect 3-0 record during its trip to China in August. He was the leading scorer on the team with 33 points, and his 11 rebounds were only one back of the leading rebounder on the team.

Other players returning to the Trojans this season include junior guards Chass Bryan and Brendyn Taylor, junior forward Strahinja Gavrilovic, sophomore forward Samer Dhillon, and sophomore guards Kahlil Dukes and Devon Pflueger. The Trojans’ roster consists of players who combine for a total of 53 starts at USC, with 52 additional collegiate starts coming from the two transfers.

Cal State Los Angeles, a Division II team, finished 15-12 last season and 12-10 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.

After this exhibition, the Trojans open their regular season on Nov. 15 when they host Portland State.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 1 p.m. and is open to the public for free.