{"id":98148,"date":"2025-08-26T22:11:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T22:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/98148\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T22:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T22:11:07","slug":"trevor-arizas-son-is-a-top-25-prospect-looking-at-several-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/98148\/","title":{"rendered":"Trevor Ariza’s Son Is A Top 25 Prospect Looking at Several Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trevor Ariza<\/a> had a long and productive NBA<\/a> career. Now, his son is embarking on a journey to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n

Tahj Ariza<\/a> is a highly touted 2026 recruit who has garnered the attention of several top college programs. Ariza was slated to make his first college visit in September, but has since moved it up to this upcoming weekend, according to On3\u2019s Joe Tipton<\/a>. He will make the short trek from Play del Ray (CA) to USC<\/a> on Aug. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/a>Tajh Ariza<\/a>, a high four-star small forward in the 2026 class, has moved up his official visit to USC, according to a source,\u201d Tipton said. \u201cThe 6-foot-8 rising senior of St. John Bosco (CA) was originally scheduled to be visiting the Trojans in mid-September, but the trip has been moved to this weekend. This will be his first official visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

18-Year NBA Veteran\u2019s Son\u2019s First Official Visit Will Be To Big 10 Newbie, Also Slated To Make Trips To A Pair Of Blue Blood Programs<\/p>\n

USC has been among the schools that have been \u201cin on Ariza\u201d the longest. USC and Washington<\/a> were the first programs to extend an offer to Ariza, both making their official overtures on December 5. Ariza owns 16 overall scholarship offers, including Ariza\u2019s father\u2019s school (UCLA<\/a>) and CSU-Northridge.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo credit: Alex Martin\/Journal-Courier<\/p>\n

USC is coming off its second straight losing season, going 17-18 last season, including 7-13 in its first year in the Big 10. Second-year coach Eric Musselman<\/a> has retooled his roster with 13 newcomers, including 10 transfers. The Trojans will be an experienced squad this year with seven seniors and graduate students.<\/p>\n

USC doesn\u2019t have any commitments for 2026. Ariza\u2019s teammate at St. John Bosco, Christian Collins<\/a>, is among the Trojans\u2019 top targets.\u00a0 Baba Oladutin, Josh Irving, and Trevon Carter Givens<\/a> are the Trojans\u2019 other top targets in the class.<\/p>\n

Tahj Ariza\u2019s Scouting Report<\/p>\n

Ariza is a smooth, high-IQ, versatile playmaking wing who is highly skilled with great size. The 17-year-old has transferred to St. John Bosco for his senior year after a terrific junior campaign at Westchester, where he averaged 27 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists per game. However, injuries kept him out for most of the spring\/summer EYBL session. He has also been part of USA Basketball<\/a> youth training camps since 2023, including the \u00a02025 USA Men\u2019s U19 National Team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A consensus top 25 recruit, Ariza is ranked as at least a four-star prospect by all three recruiting services. Ariza is given five stars and ranked No. 8 in the nation by 247Sports. Meanwhile, Rivals and ESPN have him as a four-star prospect, ranking him at No. 14 and 24, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cAriza is a budding jumbo wing who has glaring two-way tools and has continued to grow late into his high school years,\u201d 247Sports Director of Recruiting Adam Finkelstein said in his scouting repor<\/a>t. \u201cNow standing at 6-foot-9 with a better than 7-foot wingspan, he has tremendous positional size and length. He\u2019s also a fluid mover who runs the floor beautifully, covers the court, is a high-rising vertical athlete, and even has naturally soft hands and quick reactions. Ariza needs to keep getting stronger and fill out his frame, but can already fit into a high-level game.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, while Ariza may struggle to score and pressure the rim at times, he still possesses a wealth of two-way tools that translate to the highest levels, thanks to his size, length, athleticism, shooting, and defensive potential.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Visits and What Ariza\u2019s Is Looking For In A School<\/p>\n

USC, Washington, and UCLA are not the only Big 1o programs that are interested in Ariza. Oregon<\/a> has also offered Ariza, along with Alabama,<\/a> Kentucky,<\/a> Nebraska,<\/a> North Carolina<\/a>, Kansas<\/a>, Arizona State<\/a>, and Texas<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

Ariza has three other officials set up, all of them slated for September. He is slated to visit Oregon (Sept. 6), UNC (Sept. 12), and Kansas (Sept. 26). Ariza received a home visit from Kentucky\u2019s Mark Pope<\/a> this\u00a0past April.<\/p>\n

According to Rivals\u2019 Jaime Shaw<\/a>, UNC and USC have a slight edge on Ariza\u2019s recruitment. However, it is not a sure thing. Shaw added that Ariza, who has signed with Klutch Sports and has a $ 728,000 NIL valuation, is open to waiting until the late signing period to make a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, I\u2019m looking for a welcoming environment,\u201d Ariza told Shaw in June. \u201cI\u2019m also looking for coaches that are going to hold me accountable and develop me, because I\u2019m not trying to stay in college for more than a year. I\u2019m trying to get in and get out. So, I want to play for someone who has the same vision as me. I want to win and I want to develop, so I want to play for a coach that is going to push me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m comfortable playing in a pro-style-type offense.\u201d Ariza continued. \u201cI like to space the floor, run some sets, get out and run, and be around people who just know how to play ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trevor Ariza had a long and productive NBA career. Now, his son is embarking on a journey to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[1214,64,63,71941,71942,1412,1416,590,71943,85,71944,1415,1228],"class_list":["post-98148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-college-basketball-recruiting","tag-eric-musselman","tag-kansas-jayhawks","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-nba","tag-north-carolina-basketball","tag-sports","tag-trevor-ariza","tag-ucla-bruins","tag-usc-trojans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}