Freshman shooting guard Alijah Arenas’ first college basketball season was cut short before it even began. A fiery car crash in April, though resulting in no major injuries for Arenas, hospitalized him for a week and delayed his ability to practice until this month.
Then, USC announced Wednesday Arenas would miss six to eight months of the 2025 season after suffering a knee injury requiring surgery. It’s an undoubtedly tough blow for Arenas, who graduated a year early from Chatsworth High School to play basketball for the Trojans.
“Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,” USC men’s basketball head coach Eric Musselman posted Tuesday evening. “He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to supporting him during this process.”
Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person. He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to… https://t.co/XFzaA4He6H pic.twitter.com/mIO3896MFN
— Eric Musselman (@EricPMusselman) July 24, 2025
Arenas was the No. 10 overall prospect in the class of 2025 and best at his position, per 247Sports. The shooting guard was the highest-ranked commitment to USC since Isaiah Collier in 2023.
"I've been good," Arenas said in his media availability last month. "I've been really getting back into it, especially where I was to where I am now. I feel like I've gotten a lot better. And then especially seeing my teammates, it's really motivated me a lot to push forward and to keep up with the team. Getting out of the hospital, that was my main focus. I already thought about the team."
Basketball is in his blood: his father Gilbert Arenas spent 11 years in the league, primarily with the Washington Wizards. The guard made three career NBA All-Star appearances and was voted the league’s most improved player after the 2002-2003 season. Following the 2011 NBA Lockout, he was the first athlete waived under the amnesty clause.
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