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Jeff Borzello
USC freshman basketball player Alijah Arenas will sit out six to eight months after suffering a knee injury that will require surgery, the school announced Wednesday.
Arenas, the son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, was a five-star recruit who graduated high school a year early to suit up for the Trojans.
“Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to supporting him during this process.”
Arenas had just made his practice debut earlier this month following an April car crash that left him hospitalized for nearly a week.
The crash occurred when Arenas lost control of his Tesla Cybertruck and crashed into a tree. He said in June that the car’s keypad and steering wheel wouldn’t respond. The car caught on fire, but Arenas was able to break the driver’s side window and get out with help from bystanders.
Arenas was transported to a hospital and put into an induced coma because of his inhalation of smoke. He was released from the hospital less than one week later without any major injuries.
A 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Chatsworth High School (California), Arenas was a McDonald’s All American and the No. 13 recruit in the ESPN 100. He scored more than 3,000 points in only three seasons of high school basketball, setting the CIF LA City Section record.
Arenas was expected to start on USC’s perimeter alongside transfers Rodney Rice (Maryland) and Chad Baker-Mazara (Auburn).
