Alijah Arenas is expected to be one of the biggest young stars in college basketball next season. According to 247Sports, he is the No. 10-ranked recruit in the 2025 recruiting class and the No. 1-ranked shooting guard. He will start his career as a member of the USC Trojans.
On Thursday, Alijah Arenas’ mom, Laura Govan, posted a clip on her Instagram story of Arenas speaking at a practice with USC head coach Eric Musselman. In the clip, Arenas spoke about how he wants to prepare while acknowledging that communication is an issue for him.
“Muss’s energy is amazing, which is kind of what we needed,” Arenas said. “I struggled with talking. So, that was kind of my biggest thing. Now, I’m looking at other people like I struggle with that and I see how much it helps you. My job is to pick up the pace, help my teammates know what I’m doing, so when I come to practice, after being you know, being three, four weeks out, I need to already be with them or ahead of the game.
“That’s why I feel like being a team is most important because you get to learn off each other and learn your weaknesses and strengths. I’m excited, I’m ready, I can’t keep moving. I’m excited to play with my team.”
Laura Govan posted the clip with a two-word caption.
“Mic’d up!!!” Laura Govan wrote.

Eric Musselman Speaks About Alijah Arenas After Practice on Wednesday
Alijah Arenas is officially cleared to practice after recovering from an injury he suffered in a car crash earlier this year. His first practice with the team was on Thursday, but after practice on Wednesday, USC head coach Eric Musselman spoke about Arenas.
“I think he knows the offense, on paper, maybe better than anyone on our team,” Musselman said. “Now, when he has to go live, and he’s in there, it’s a different story maybe than seeing it on paper or seeing it from the sidelines. But I would anticipate him picking it up really quick.”
Now that Arenas has been cleared to practice, he is expected to be a full participant. He is joining a USC team that is looking to get back to the March Madness tournament after two years out of it. This will be Eric Musselman’s second season as the team’s head coach.
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