Alijah Arenas injury update: Eric Musselman reveals when USC will decide on guard's status for season

USC’s Alijah Arenas had a terrible summer, as he recovered from a car crash in April just to go on and tear his meniscus in July. That said, Eric Musselman said their five-star freshman is not yet ruled out for this season in Los Angeles.

Musselman provided an update on Arenas while at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on Thursday. He said the Trojans will re-evaluate his status at the start of next year to decide whether or not he can take the court at all this season for Southern Cal.

“Eric Musselman said 5-star freshman Alijah Arenas will be reevaluated in mid-January to determine whether he will suit up for the Trojans this season after suffering a knee injury in July,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello tweeted out this afternoon. “‘He’s progressed really well … He’s so resilient, it’s insane … He’s wired different.'”

As he recovers, Arenas has been in a knee brace. He has also been riding a scooter around in his rehab, including on the court at their practice facility, while even dribbling and shooting around.

Arenas, the son of Gilbert Arenas, was the top commitment for USC in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Coming out of Chatsworth, he was rated as the No. 12 overall recruit and a Five-Star+ prospect, as well as ranking at No. 3 among both shooting guards in the class and players out of the state of California. That’s according to the Rivals’ Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He comes to Los Angeles as one of two signees this offseason along with Jerry Easter, one of the top combo guards in the class and a Top 50 recruit himself.

But, from his car accident on, Arenas has dealt with a lot in his offseason, going from high school to college. He wrecked a car, which led to him being placed in an induced coma, as he spent a little less than a week in the hospital and recovered at home over the next few weeks. Then, later in July, Arenas tore his meniscus, with that kind of knee injury risking his entire freshman season with USC.

It’s a question of what kind of effect that Arenas could have at that point of the season, with him coming off a significant injury at that point to make his college debut in conference play in the Big Ten. However, considering the interest around him as a prospect, it’s a positive to know going in that he may not be lost for the season after all, according to Musselman, with more to know on his status potentially coming in January.