Alijah Arenas to miss opening part of USC's season due to knee surgery

The career of USC freshman Alijah Arenas has been that of adversity. So far, the guard has done well to push through and overcome any and all obstacles that have been placed in front of him. Late on Wednesday, an additional aspect was revealed.

Arenas, as shared on X by ESPN, will be forced to miss the opening part of the season due to a knee injury. This latest setback will require surgery and is why the freshman will be unable to play during the opening games for the Trojans.

Having to now wait a while longer for the highly anticipated debut of Arenas will require a little more patience. When considering what Arenas has already done to get to this point, it can easily be expected that the freshman will be able to overcome this injury and be ready to step on the court after his recovery timeline is complete and perform at the needed level for USC to achieve its goals.

Message from USC head coach

Coach Eric Musselman took to X to give a message of encouragement and optimism regarding Arenas' future. Based on the post, there does not appear to be too much concern about this being a long-term injury. Instead, it looks like the guard will have to miss the opening portion of the schedule but could foreseeably be able to return during Big Ten play.

The possibility remains, though, of his potentially missing out on the entirety of the season.

For now, the immediate concern is over Arenas' recovery and being able to come back from his surgery at the level that many expect him to be able to step foot on the court with. There is a reason that he was a five-year recruit out of high school and why he will likely be a first-round pick come the NBA draft. This is only a chapter in his story, and one of someone who has done well to push himself to this point in his career.