Why did Chad Baker-Mazara leave USC basketball? What to know of Troja… — and more

Chad Baker-Mazara's collegiate career appears to have come to an unceremonious end on Sunday, March 1.

Southern California announced that the sixth-year and graduate transfer is no longer with the program, following his decision to not re-enter Saturday's 82-67 loss against Nebraska.

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Baker-Mazara's exit from the team comes at an interesting time for the Trojans. The team had been on the first four out in USA TODAY Sports' latest bracketology, but have lost five games in a row.

Here's what you need to know about why Baker-Mazara left USC:

Why did Chad Baker-Mazara leave USC?

In his first year with USC ―and his sixth collegiate season ―Baker-Mazara led the Trojans with 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. All of his averages were career highs, as he started 22 of 26 games he appeared in for USC.

However, against Nebraska after scoring 14-first half points, Baker-Mazara exited the game three minutes into the second half after falling hard on the baseline while trying to chase down Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort. He went to the locker room and never re-entered the game.

"He said he couldn’t go," head coach Eric Musselman told reporters after the game.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times' Ryan Kartje, "it wasn’t any one incident, but an accumulation of issues that led to Baker-Mazara’s departure."

Does Chad Baker-Mazara have any eligibility left?

After playing six collegiate seasons, Baker-Mazara is out of eligibility, effectively ending his college career.

How old is Chad Baker-Mazara?

Baker-Mazara was born on Jan. 27, 2000. That made him 26 years old during the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Chad Baker-Mazara stats

Here's a look at Baker-Mazara's stats in his six collegiate basketball seasons:

• 2020-21 (Duquesne): 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game on 43.8% shooting, 41.7% 3-point shooting in 24.4 minutes per game (15 games, 13 starts)
• 2021-22 (San Diego State): 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game on 42% shooting, 39.3% 3-point shooting in 12.8 minutes per game (31 games, 0 starts)
• 2022-23 (Northwest Florida State): Did not play
• 2023-24 (Auburn): 10 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks per game on 45.2% shooting, 41.8% 3-point shooting in 21.7 minutes per game (35 games, 9 starts)
• 2024-25 (Auburn): 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks per game on 44.8% shooting, 38.1% 3-point shooting in 25.6 minutes per game (38 games, 34 starts)
• 2025-26 (USC): 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game on 44.4% shooting, 38.1% 3-point shooting in 29.6 minutes per game (26 games, 22 starts)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why did Chad Baker-Mazara depart USC basketball?

It’s another week of the Mountain West Recruiting Roundup.

To officially close the book on the 2026 recruiting class, our cover photo winner needs to be mentioned. For the 2026 cycle, Boise State and Hawaii share the title of having the most cover photo appearances. Congrats to the Broncos and Rainbow Warriors.

Now it’s full steam ahead to the 2027 class. Teams have been handing out 2027 offers for quite some time and continue to do so at a high rate, with San Jose State leading the way. No commits this week, but UNLV already has a decommit, bringing their class from two players to one.

This post does feature our first Mountain West team rankings release, or at least the four teams that have signed a player thus far.

And San Jose State will kick off the 2027 cover photo series after recording 25 offers this week.

Class of 2027 Cover Photo Total:

• San Jose State: 1

Recruiting Calendar:

Starting today and going through mid-April, we are in a quiet period. On-campus contact is permitted, while off-campus contact is limited to text, calls, and DMs.

Next College Student Athlete says:

The NCAA defines the quiet period as a time when “a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents off the college campus and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high school.” To break it down, the NCAA Quiet Period is a time you can talk to college coaches in-person on their college campus. However, the coach is not allowed to watch athletes compete in-person, visit their school, talk to them at their home—or talk to them anywhere outside of the college campus. Coaches can still text, call, email or direct message coaches during this time.

Commitment Spotlight:

Visit Recap:

2027 Mountain West March Team Rankings:

For this initial month, we also include the names of the commits to illustrate what each team has done so far. Only four Mountain West teams have a verbal pledge at this point in the cycle.

1) UNLV

• OL Phoenix Pollard

2) New Mexico

• DB Tayven Collins

3) Wyoming

• WR Alijah Landrum-Hamilton

4) Nevada

• QB Blake Nadler

Recruiting Updates:

Offers:

• Air Force: 5
• Boise State: 7
• Colorado State: 9
• Fresno State:
• Hawaii: 5
• Nevada: 2
• New Mexico: 9
• NIU:
• North Dakota State:
• Oregon State: 2
• San Diego State: 7
• San Jose State: 25
• Texas State: 1
• UNLV: 2
• Utah State:
• UTEP:
• Washington State: 1
• Wyoming:

Visits

Commits:

Decommits

• DL Jaxon Wilson: UNLV

Follow @Mike_SBN on Twitter for all the latest recruiting news and updates.

Houston is remaking its backfield.

The Lions star, who has become lovingly known as 'Knuckles' to fans, has been with the franchise for three years. However, ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler claimed that he wants out.