Can Bronny James be the missing piece for USC amid an early losing skid?

LOS ANGELES — Andy Enfield and the USC Trojans hit a major milestone on Sunday with Bronny James' debut after his cardiac arrest.

Yet James’ return, however remarkable, still wasn’t enough to get USC back on track — at least, not yet.

Long Beach State spoiled James’ debut in front of a packed house and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on Sunday afternoon. Long Beach State, despite entering halftime down by 15 points, came up with a 84-79 overtime win at the Galen Center.

The Trojans, who now sit at 5-4 on the season, have lost three of their last four games and look nothing like the team that started the season ranked nationally with legitimate hopes to challenge No. 1 Arizona in the Pac-12’s final season.

“I am going to take these as lessons,” fifth-year senior Boogie Ellis said. “We need to get better, we are not a good team right now, and that starts with me and Kobe [Johnson] as the leaders of the team.”

On paper, it looked like the Trojans would be a very solid program this season. They started the year ranked No. 21 in the country, and they had the No. 3 recruiting class coming in. The Trojans landed top-ranked Isaiah Collier, who could easily be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. D.J. Rodman, the son of former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman, transferred in from Washington State, and Ellis returned for one last season. And, of course, they have Bronny.

But just a month into the season, the Trojans have fallen out of the Associated Press poll completely. They fell to UC Irvine in a bad loss at home in just their third game, and then lost to Oklahoma at the Rady Children’s Invitational over Thanksgiving after Otega Oweh tipped in a bucket with less than two seconds left. No. 11 Gonzaga flew past the Trojans last week in Las Vegas, too, before The Beach got their win in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Trojans shot just 7-of-31 from behind the arc and missed 16 free throws in the loss to Long Beach State — including several down the stretch. They shot just 1-of-6 from the field in overtime, and were outscored in the second half 44-29. Collier, despite scoring a team-high 15 points, had perhaps the worst game of his college career. He shot just 5-of-15 from the field, missed all five of his 3-point attempts and missed seven free throws.

“Well we had a 15-point lead at halftime, but I was disappointed in our energy to start the second half,” Enfield said. “Our starting unit came out and we missed some wide-open shots to start. They were flat on defense, and [Long Beach State] just had more energy to start the second half. I didn't understand it because we had a great crowd, and we played so energetic in the first half.”

So how does Bronny fit in?

While it was a big, emotional moment for the James family on Sunday — Bronny experienced cardiac arrest just 139 days ago, which put his basketball future very much in doubt — his start for the Trojans was a bit slow. But that was by design.

Bronny played about 17 minutes in the loss, and stayed below his minutes restriction after coming off the bench. He never played more than about four minutes in a row before coming out, and at one point in the first half he asked Enfield to come out of the game.

The 19-year-old finished with four points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one wild chase-down block.

Bronny is a great 3-point shooter, though he went just 1-of-3 on Sunday, and a lockdown defender, both of which are areas where the Trojans need help. The former four-star recruit is bound to break into the starting lineup, too, but he’s just not there yet physically.

It’s unclear how long Bronny’s minutes restriction will last — Enfield wouldn't even say what that was set at specifically — or how long it will take for him to find his footing. The Trojans have a week off before taking on Auburn next Sunday, and then Alabama State two days later. Then Pac-12 play starts right after Christmas. Enfield and USC, however, don't seem willing to rush anything.

But when the time comes, whenever that may be, James will be ready. If the Trojans are going to compete with the Wildcats in the Pac-12's final season, they're going to need a high-level Bronny available to them.

"He's built for it," Ellis said of the attention and expectations on Bronny. "I feel like he embraces that. He put in the work and he's a great player. We're going to get him back and he's going to continue to get into the rotation, but he's built for it. He handles it very well."