Pac-12 Player of the Year hopeful announces a return to USC basketball team

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein has announced that Drew Peterson has told him he will be withdrawing from the 2022 NBA Draft and returning to the USC basketball program. Peterson was named first-team All-Pac 12 in the 2021-2022 season.

He most certainly deserved it too; averaging 12.4 points per contest, 3.3 assists per contest, and 6.2 rebounds per contest while running the point frequently throughout games. He shot the lights out all year--converting on an absurd 46.7% of his shot attempts, and 41.2% of his three-point attempts.

He's already at this level, and if he gets better in his fifth year, he truly could contend for Pac-12 Player of the Year. Obviously, Peterson already has proven that he's one of the best players in the conference. He's improved as a shooter every single year he's been in college, dating back to his first days as a D-I player at Rice.

Drew Peterson has been an absolute transfer portal steal for USC basketball.

Now, it's up for Drew Peterson to find a way to be more consistent as a shooter with the USC basketball program. He has the percentages, but he can be a bit streaky at times. Peterson shot 25% or lower in five different Pac-12 games in this past season out of 19 conference games.

He was six of 41 in those five games. He was zero of 19 from three in those five games. Obviously, those types of outings can't happen if he wants to compete for the Pac-12 Player of the Year award.

If he improves this season, he'll improve his draft stock as well. He obviously helped introduce himself to the NBA Draft world this offseason, meeting with many NBA squads, and they'll be keeping an eye on his progress during this upcoming season. A 6-9 guard is hard to find, and one who can also shoot the way Peterson can when he's on is a gem that will be on many scouts' radars.