It was a tough 2025-2026 season for the USC Trojans men's basketball team. The Trojans lost seven straight games to close out the season and had an early exit in the conference tournament. USC had its fair share of bad luck as multiple talented players went down with injury. One was promising guard Rodney Rice.

The Trojans just got good news Friday that the junior guard will be returning for next season. Transfers were a big thing for the Trojans, and they had a pretty high hit rate if it wasn't for injuries. Rice was the Trojans' best transfer in his short sample size of games played. The former Maryland guard played only six games, but it was a very exciting stint with USC.

In 6 games, Rice averaged 20.3 points per game, shot 41% from the field, 38.5% from 3, averaged 6.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest. Rice was the star for USC to start the season, before he went down with an injury. Rice led the Trojans to a 6-0 start, but losing a player like Rice kind of set off a ripple effect of injuries and disappointment during the rest of the season.

The Trojans fell short of their goals last season, but getting Rice gives hope that next season could be different. All USC needs is to try to get high-upside freshman Alijah Arenas back in the mix, and USC will have a star-studded backcourt.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Rodney Rice comes back for another season with USC basketball