USC added an NBA veteran on the coaching staff to replace the one it lost. Former UTEP assistant coach Earl Boykins joined head coach**Eric Musselman**'s staff Friday after four seasons in El Paso.
The two have a history together, starting in the NBA when Musselman coached Boykins with the Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors. Musselman hired Boykins when he got to Arkansas in 2019 to be the Director of Student-Athlete Development, and they were together for two seasons until Boykins was hired as an assistant coach at UTEP in 2021.
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Boykins, a Cleveland native, played four years at Eastern Michigan and went undrafted. He joined the Rockford Lightning, a minor league team, before getting his shot in the NBA. He jumped around for a few years before becoming a contributor with the Los Angeles Clippers, Warriors and Denver Nuggets from 2000 to 2007. He jumped around for a few more years in the NBA before getting his first coaching job with Castle Rock (Colo.) Douglas County in 2013. He remained there until 2019 when he left for the Razorbacks job.
The former point guard brings an edge to the staff that can help with development. At 5-foot-5, he was known in the league for his craftiness on both ends of the floor and his ability to score despite his height disadvantage.
Boykins replaces fellow NBA veteran Quincy Pondexter, who left after a year with Musselman to return to his alma mater Washington.
The Trojans finished 17-18 overall in Musselman’s first season in Los Angeles and 7-13 in the program’s first season in the Big Ten conference. The team made it past the first round of the conference tournament, beating Rutgers in double overtime, but couldn’t beat Purdue in the second round. USC accepted an invitation to play in the College Basketball Crown, a new postseason tournament hosted in Las Vegas. It beat Tulane in the first game of the tournament but fell to Villanova in the second game to end its season.
Similar to last season, the Trojans went through a rebuild in the offseason through the transfer portal. Six players departed the program, two high school prospects were brought in —**Alijah Arenas** and Jerry Easter — and 10 transfers have been added.