The USC men’s basketball team has added another player to its roster 12 games into its season.
Graduate guard Kam Woods, who most recently played at Robert Morris University, was added Thursday and will be eligible to play immediately.
“Kam brings a tremendous competitive spirit to our program and is a proven winner,” Trojans head coach Eric Musselman said in a press release. “Kam has been an integral part of an NCAA Tournament bid at Robert Morris and a Final 4 run at NC State. Kam will provide us with defensive toughness and has experience at the guard position.”
USC isn’t the only men’s basketball program to add a player during the season. Dayton brought in international player Sean Pouedet when the fall semester ended and Washington called on Serbian forward Nikola Dzepina.
Musselman had hinted that USC would be adding a player in his postgame press conference after Sunday’s win against Washington State.
“The semester ends on Wednesday,” Musselman told reporters. “If we can somehow get another player, I’d like to get that done, too, if we can make that happen. Don’t hold me to it, but that’s what I’m looking for.”
Woods and senior wing Amarion Dickerson, who is out the rest of the season due to hip surgery, played together at Robert Morris and brought the school a Horizon League championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The 6-foot-2 Woods averaged 14.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. His first collegiate season was at Troy in 2020, then he played a season at Northwest Florida State Community College.
He played two more seasons of Division I basketball at North Carolina A&T and at NC State.
The Trojans are currently down three players due to injury. In addition to Dickerson, junior guard Rodney Rice will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Freshman guard Alijah Arenas is expected to begin practicing this week after recovering from a torn meniscus.
Arenas and Rice were expected to handle the point this season, while Dickerson was an “emotional connector,” according to Musselman.
“I give that locker room so much credit for not feeling sorry for themselves,” the head coach told reporters after Wednesday’s win over UTSA. “For coming to practice and working and knowing that moving forward, we’ve got to get a lot better.”
