USC basketball recruiting: Coveted four-star forward reclassifies, names Top 8

USC basketball recruiting target Alex Tchikou reclassified and named Top 8.

The USC basketball recruiting class of 2020 already includes a five-star stud and a handful of transfers, but the Trojans could get even more loaded.

On Monday, four-star forward Alex Tchikou announced two pieces of big news. The first? He is reclassifying into the class of 2020, intent on starting college early.

Second? He has a new Top 8 of schools to consider.

Tchikou is set to pick between USC, Oregon, Alabama, Saint Mary’s, Saint John’s, Arizona, Florida State and Illinois, according to Tipton Edits. Schools on his offer sheet who didn’t make the cut include UCLA, Kansas, ASU, Washington, Florida and more.

Why is USC basketball recruiting Alex Tchikou?

The 6-foot-11 power forward played his junior season for Dream City Christian in Glendale, Arizona. However, he hails from France and told Rivals.com he was ready to skip his senior year of high school and hit the college level ahead of schedule. Either way, he aims to declare for the NBA Draft in 2022.

“I think two years of college is better than one year in high school and one in college,” Tchikou said.

Since he has spent time in Arizona, the Wildcats would seem to have an edge. However, Rivals’ FutureCast projects him to land with Florida State.

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The battle for his signature should be fierce, especially as USC looks to make up ground.

Tchikou is the No. 36 player in the class of 2020 now that he’s moved up a year.

In a tweet, Baseline Junkies praised Tchikou for his “raw untapped potential” calling attention to “valid” comparison to Kevin Durant.

At the start of June, USC added six new players. Five-star Evan Mobley was already signed but still headlines the class. He was joined by new signee Boubacar Coulibaly, a three-star forward, as well as graduate transfers like guard Tahj Eaddy from Santa Clara, forward Chevez Goodwin from Wofford and forward Isaiah White from Utah Valley.

Additional transfers like Long Beach State forward Joshua Morgan and Rice guard Drew Peterson will have to sit out a season before becoming eligible.

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The Trojans needed so many new additions because of a handful of departures. Seniors Nick Rakocevic, Jonah Matthews, Daniel Utomi and Quinton Adlesh all graduated.

Meanwhile forward Onyeka Okongwu departed for the NBA.

On top of that, guard Elijah Weaver and forward Kyle Sturdivant opted to transfer to Dayton and Georgia Tech respectively.

To put it simply, USC returned just five players from last year’s squad, including budding football star Drake London and transfer Noah Baumann who had to sit out while waiting for his eligibility.

All that turnover means the Trojans do still have room to take another player in the class of 2020. It’s up to Tchikou to decide if he wants to wear the cardinal and gold.