In April 2025, after crashing his Tesla Cybertruck into a fire hydrant, five-star recruit Alijah Arenas was placed into a medically induced coma because of smoke inhalation from the crash.

On Wednesday night less than an hour from where that crash took place in California, Arenas, the son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, made his college basketball debut for the USC Trojans.

The arrival of Arenas onto USC’s court was the culmination of a chaotic year for the talented freshman from California, who during summer training, and coming off the recovery from his accident, subsequently suffered a meniscus injury that required surgery. He has been recovering for five months and was cleared for game action this week.

Arenas struggled in his debut, perhaps as expected, but was given a long leash to work out his rust. He played 29 minutes vs. Northwestern in a 74-68 loss, finishing with eight points on 3-of-15 shooting, two assists and two rebounds. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts — and USC finished the game 2-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. 

“The results are not shocking to me,” USC coach Eric Musselman said Wednesday, acknowledging Arenas, who struggled in his first college minutes, was not the only USC player who had a tough time scoring. “He should be a high school senior who reclassified, missed an entire summer, and then you throw him in in the middle of Big Ten play. He doesn’t have nonconference play just based off injury. It’s a difficult thing for any super-talented player to go through.

“Should I have started him?” Musselman continued. “I don’t know, maybe not. Should I have played him less minutes? Maybe.”

Arenas was inefficient as a shooter but he was one of only three USC players who did not finish the game with a negative plus-minus. (He finished plus-zero; Chad Baker-Mazara led the team with plus-six and Jacob Cofie was plus-1). He also showcased his obvious skill set that made him such a highly-prized prospect, which included a 360-degree spin for a lay-in at the rim.

USC, perhaps most importantly, needs Arenas — even if he is a bit rusty — to get up to speed quickly. After a 12-1 start to their season, the Trojans have dropped four of their last six and are 14-5 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Their loss Wednesday was their second consecutive home loss after falling to Purdue on Saturday.

“We’re struggling right now to find five guys with the way we’re shooting and blowing coverages,” Musselman said. “I’ll just keep searching. You can’t go 0-2 on a two-game homestand. Can’t do it.”

USC couldn’t convert in the win column in its last two outings at home and now has two tough tests on the road — at Wisconsin and at Iowa — over the next week, where it will likely be underdogs in both.