Drew Peterson to test NBA Draft process
Drew Peterson is going to experience the NBA Draft process this offseason. The 6-foot-9 senior guard announced Monday that he will enter his name into the NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent in order to preserve his final year of eligibility.
This is the same process Isaiah Mobley went through last offseason before ultimately returning to USC for one more season.
The expectation is that Peterson will eventually return to USC and be a central figure on the Trojans’ 2022-23 team. If he does receive enough positive feedback to stay in the draft, it would be a significant blow to USC.
Peterson finished third on the team in scoring last season, with 12.4 points per game. His 6.2 rebounds per game were good for third and he led the Trojans with 113 assists.
Peterson can get a little loose with the ball at times and led the Trojans with 81 turnovers. But there was no discounting the huge impact he had on the team this season. He scored in double digits in 24 games and had a run of at least 20 points in three of five games.
Peterson turned in one of the all-time great USC performances in a win against UCLA. He scored 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting, to go with 12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists. And he nearly willed the Trojans back from the brink in their opening-round loss to Miami in the NCAA Tournament. He scored eight point in the final 35 seconds and saw a desperation game-winning heave at the buzzer bounce off the backboard and rim, just missing.
USC’s offseason roster rebuild
USC lost a couple of key reserves to the transfer portal in Ethan Anderson and Max Agbonkpolo, who both committed to Wyoming. The Trojans will also be without Boubacar Coulibaly, who also entered the portal.
Mobley is off to the NBA and Chevez Goodwin exhausted his college eligibility this season.
But the Trojans return some key pieces and should have a solid core to build around. Peterson is absolutely one of those guys should he return to USC. He’ll join Boogie Ellis as the two veteran leaders. And they’ll be joined by Reese Dixon-Waters as the likely three scoring leaders for the Trojans next year.
Kobe Johnson showed some real flashes this season and should play much more than his 7.6 minutes per game as a second-year player.
There is likely still work in the transfer portal to be done by Andy Enfield and staff, but Harrison Hornery, Malik Thomas and Joshua Morgan taking significant steps forward next year would be significant.
It’s probably too much to expect incoming freshmen to carry too much of the load. But plenty will be expected from 7-footer Vince Iwuchukwu, 6-foot-9 power foward Kijani Wright and 6-foot-6 wing Tre White.
