Men’s basketball Head Coach Eric Musselman said he expects to see five-star recruit Alijah Arenas on the court for the Trojans in mid-January in a virtual news conference Thursday. Arenas had suffered a knee injury in July that was expected to sideline him for most of the season.

The third-highest ranking commit in USC history, Arenas was originally given a six-to-eight-month timetable for a return, which would have put his earliest potential return around mid-to-late January. Though he wouldn’t say Arenas was ahead of schedule, Musselman said his recovery was going “phenomenal.”

“There’s still a lot that’s got to happen,” Musselman said in the news conference. “He’s still got to practice. But right now, everything is exactly where it needs to be. His healing process, his rehab process has gone great.”

After reclassifying to graduate high school a year early, Arenas, son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, was expected to play a starting role on USC’s perimeter alongside junior guard Rodney Rice and graduate forward Chad Baker-Mazara before heading to the NBA. Arenas’ speedy recovery may mean he still declares for the draft, which some outlets counted out due to the injury.

Even without Arenas, the Trojans have gotten off to a hot 8-0 start to the year, including a gritty win over Oregon to start Big Ten play, and are ranked on The Associated Press’ Top 25 for the first time since the 2021-22 season. A healthy Arenas would only bolster USC’s roster, adding a true point guard into the mix and potentially propelling them to a deep NCAA Tournament run.

While Musselman had a positive update on Arenas’ status, he didn’t have substantial updates on injuries recently sustained by Rice and senior forward Amarion Dickerson.

Rice, USC’s second leading scorer with an average of 20.3 points per game on a team-high 34 minutes per game, went down with a shoulder injury midway through a game against Seton Hall last week and has missed the Trojans’ last two contests. Rice also has a team-high 36 assists, having taken over a lot of the playmaking slack left by Arenas’ injury.

Musselman said Thursday that Rice got a second medical opinion and was day-to-day.

To pick up Rice’s production, Musselman said he has used a group of players, led by freshman guard Jerry Easter II, who has started both games in Rice’s absence and scored a combined 13 points in increased minutes. Musselman specifically praised Easter’s rebounding ability, which allowed him to pick up eight against Oregon, and his defense since taking over the starting role.

“There are not a lot of teams that have a 20-point scorer not playing and then can still figure out a way to win,” Musselman said. “This team has done that.”

Dickerson, who has started one game this season as the Trojans’ definitive sixth man, took what Musselman called a “pretty hard fall” early in Tuesday’s win over Oregon and is still being evaluated. He played just four minutes and didn’t take a shot against the Ducks.

Dickerson is one of USC’s top defenders and has averaged 21.6 minutes, 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this season.