USC basketball: Elijah Weaver reportedly enters transfer portal

USC basketball guard Elijah Weaver has entered the transfer portal, according to a report from The Athletic.

USC basketball is set to lose another player to the transfer portal.

On Tuesday, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic reported that Elijah Weaver, USC’s junior guard, has begun the transfer process. He joins Kyle Sturdivant as one of two transfers following the close of the 2019-20 season.

Fortunately for the Trojans, transfers in have also been plentiful.

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Noah Baumann, another 6-foot-6 guard, spent the year sitting and waiting for his eligibility to open back up after transferring in. Meanwhile, the Trojans picked up guards like Santa Clara’s Tahj Eaddy, who will have immediate eligibility, and Utah Valley’s Isaiah White, who will have to sit out a year.

Weaver is the second Trojan from the class of 2018 to depart. J’Raan Brooks was the first to leave. Kevin Porter Jr. jumped to the NFL after one season.

Weaver was a four-star point guard in USC’s recruiting class of 2018. He ranked 45th nationally In the 247Sports composite.

The guard came to Los Angeles from Florida, where he was the sixth-best prospect in the state.

Weaver opened the 2019-20 season as a key player in the Trojans’ lineup. He started 14 of USC’s first 15 games. He had four games with double-digit points and three with four assists in that opening run.

However, Weaver’s place as a starter was ultimately usurped by Daniel Utomi, the grad transfer from Akron. While Weaver averaged 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, Utomi put up 8.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.8 assists.

Even though Utomi’s eligibility was used up, Weaver may have seen further obstacles to his court time with the arrival of several new transfers.

Weaver’s first season at USC was delayed by an ankle injury, forcing him to miss preseason practices. While he managed to start in November of 2018, the ankle proved a lingering problem. He missed time at the tail end of December then reaggravated the injury ahead of USC’s conference tilts against Cal and Stanford. He was able to return stronger than ever, posting a career-high 17 points against Utah in early March. He started the final four games of the campaign.