Good morning! USC football’s freshman phenom Zachariah Branch is hanging up the cleats (for now) in exchange for the track spikes. Branch will join Trojan track and field for the 2024 season as a sprinter and will race in this weekend’s Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston, Mass.

What else can you find in today's Brew?

🏀 Women’s basketball hosts Arizona State
🏈 Football adds three recruits
⚔️ And much, much more!

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🔼 Going For More. USC lacrosse’s Claudia Shevitz was selected to the ILWomen Preseason All-American Third Team ahead of the Trojans’ season-opener. The senior midfielder played a pivotal role in the program's success last season, which resulted in a Pac-12 championship and an NCAA appearance. The senior earned recognition in 2023 as the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year and finished the season on the same publication's All-American Honorable Mention list. In 2023, the midfielder compiled 36 goals, picked up 20 groundballs and accumulated 27 draw controls.

📚️ Read about USC lacrosse’s doubleheader opening weekend against Army and Villanova

🔼 First Race Feeling. USC women's rowing will race in a closed scrimmage against Loyola Marymount on Saturday morning for the first race in 2024. Race results will not be submitted as this is a closed scrimmage. The Trojans will compete in 6 events this spring including the Ivy League Invitation, the Dexter Lake Invite, and the Pac-12 Championship. In 2022-23, USC made its second of back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Championships and finished 16th with 42 points

🔼 Indoor Ships. In the first round at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the No. 16-ranked Women of Troy will face off against top-ranked Texas. USC punched their ticket to the championships following a pair of wins at ITA Kickoff Weekend where the team defeated No. 21 Miami and No. 17 Tennessee to punch their ticket to Seattle. The last time USC was in the tournament was in 2022 when the team faced off against Texas in the first round as well.

🔼 Tight Contest. USC men’s volleyball fell in a close four-set match against No. 7 UC Irvine. After taking the first set handily, the Trojans fell narrowly in the third set (30-28) and fourth set (27-25) for the team’s fourth loss of the season. Three Trojans finished with double-digit kills including Jack Deuchar who led the team with his career-high of 21 kills on a .500 hitting percentage. The two teams will run it back on Saturday at the Galen Center.

🔼 Southern Cal Hospitality. This weekend, the Women of Troy will host both Arizona and Arizona State at the Galen Center in a pair of Pac-12 duals. The No. 10 ranked squad will face off against the 10-12 Sun Devils on Friday night, and then on Monday, will square up against the Wildcats. Last season, the Trojans recorded wins against both squads and have combined to beat these two teams 119 times since the 1977-78 season.

🔼 Moving On Up. Ahead of the Trojan men’s tennis match against Oklahoma State, the team received an upgrade in the ITA Rankings. USC will go into the dual as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation following its recent big wins over San Diego and UNLV. Additionally, doubles team Oscar Weightman and Stefan Dostanic came in as the 37th-best duo in the nation while Lodewijk Weststrate (96th) and Peter Makk (38th) each received bumps in their singles rankings.

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Back At It. USC men’s basketball was unable to come away with the win in its battle against California, but an important piece of the team made his return after missing games due to injury.

Our question today: do you know which Trojan made their return to the court?

Think you got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

⚔️ ONE BIG THING

USC football made three additions to its Class of 2024 including defensive lineman Ratumana Bulabalavu, cornerback Isaiah Rubin, and linebacker Jadyn Walker.

👤 Ratumana Bulabalavu joins the Trojans from the Army and Navy Academy where he was ranked the No. 31 player in the state of California as a four-star recruit. The defensive lineman recorded the most sacks in the state of California over the 2022 and 2023 seasons (42.5) and was selected as the 2022 Sunset League Defensive Player of the Year.

👤 Isaiah Rubin is ranked the No. 25 player in the state of California as a four-star recruit out of Los Alamitos, CA. During his senior season, he tallied 58 tackles, 7 INTs (including three pick-6s) and four punt returns where he scored TDs. He represented LA and participated in the 2023 Makasi Bowl.

👤 Jadyn Walker is coming into the program as a three-star recruit and top 20 player from the state of Michigan. During his senior year in 2023, he recorded 34 tackles and 2 INTs and earned placement on the 2023 Associated Press Division 1 & 2 All-State First Team, the 2023 MHSCFA All-State Division 2 First Team, and 2023 All-SMAC First Team.

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 LOOKING AHEAD

*All times Pacific

Friday, Feb. 9

👟 Track and Field @ Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston, MA | Live Stats

🏊️ Women’s Swim & Dive vs. UCLA in Los Angeles, CA

🥍 Lacrosse vs. Army @ 2:00pm in West Point, NY | Watch | Live Stats

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. North Carolina @ 3:30pm in Seattle, WA

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Arizona State @ 7:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Tickets | Watch | Live Stats

🚣 Rowing vs. LMU @ TBD in Marina del Rey, CA

🏐 Men’s Volleyball vs. UC Irvine @ 7:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Tickets | Watch | Live Stats

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Stanford @ 7:00pm in Stanford, CA | Watch | Listen | Live Stats

Saturday, Feb. 10

👟 Track and Field @ Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston, MA | Live Stats

🏊️ Women’s Swim & Dive vs. UCLA in Los Angeles, CA

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Oklahoma State @ 11:00am in Stillwater, OK | Watch | Live Stats

Sunday, Feb. 11

🥍 Lacrosse vs. Villanova @ 9:00am in Villanova, PA | Watch | Live Stats

⚔️ Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Isaiah Collier!

Collier put up 20 points for the Trojans against California after missing six games due to injury.

⚔️ Have a great weekend, everyone!