USC really needed a bucket. Coming off of an impressive run to go dancing in 2016, the 2016-17 season came with hefty expectations. After winning their first two games of the season, the Trojans faced a true road game down south against Texas A&M. After a strong first half, the Trojans trailed, 62-57, with just over two minutes to go.Freshman De'Anthony Melton secured a rebound and made his way down the court. As the shot clock began to wind down, USC point guard Jordan McLaughlin passed the ball to the freshman. Despite having taken very few jumpers throughout his high school and AAU career, Melton confidently stepped into the three-pointer and buried it. Minutes later he would secure a two-point lead by hitting a clutch free throw. In just his third game in college, Melton stepped up beyond his 18 years of age.
This didn't surprise Melton's teammates or his coaches. It didn't surprise them that Melton, who wasn't ranked in the Top 100 as a high school prospect, could play. Melton, after all, came in with the reputation of being a Swiss Army knife type of player. What they didn't expect was how soon he would become invaluable and impossible to keep off the floor.
"With De'Anthony, we knew that his gift was that he can do everything," said associate head coach Tony Bland. "What we did not know was that it would translate so soon and at this high of a level." Early on in the season Melton led the Pac-12 in steals, eventually ending the regular season with the third-most in the conference. He started the season as McLaughlin's understudy at point guard, only to eventually become Jordan's starting partner in the back court. He's become the ultimate glue guy and an unsung hero.
"I've never had a player like that. I've never had a player that was, across the board, really good at everything," said Bland. "I've had a good defender, I've had a good athlete, I've had a little bit of everything, but I've never had a player that you look up and at the end of the game, it's almost a triple-double... every single time he's out there."
Melton appeared in all 31 games for the Trojans and when you look at the stat sheet, you really see how invaluable he became. By the end of the regular season, he finished second on the team in rebounds and assists per game, first in steals per game, third in blocks, free throws made and free throws attempted per game, and fourth in minutes per game. Melton credits his all-around game to the coaching he got in high school."My coach really dictated on us to play hard no matter what. If you play hard, you stay on the floor more. Sometimes you get easy buckets," Melton recalled. "No matter if you're shooting bad or shooting good, if you always play hard, things come a lot easier for you."
Melton plays about as hard as any player in the Pac-12, allowing him to play with tenacity and energy on both sides of the ball. Through his hard play and ability to impact the game in so many ways, he's changed the way some of his teammates approached their own playing time.
"He's helped other guys understand that you don't have to just score to leave an imprint on a game," said USC's director of scouting Martin Bahar. "I think he's kind of opened some other guys' eyes up to like, 'Hey, I can contribute.' I don't have to make every shot any given night. There's all these other things I can do."
While most freshmen are looking to nail down a rotation spot and focus on one area of their game, Melton cracked the rotation by finding a way to be Mr. Everything for the Trojans. The key to Melton's success, to Bland, has been confidence.
"To me, the area he's improved on the most is that he's approaching the game with his shoulders back and his chest out, saying, 'Hey, I'm just as good if not better than anyone I've faced all year and I'm about to show it,'" explained Bland.
Throughout the season, Melton has faced plenty of faces who were ranked higher than him in high school and he's hung with them all, even outplaying some. It's led to him competing with even more of a chip on his shoulder, but he has not gotten too caught up into rankings.
"Rankings don't really matter to me. I knew how good I was, and people around me knew how good I was, so my goal was to show everyone nationally how good I am," he recounted.
Melton now has certainly gotten the attention of the college basketball world, but the humble freshman isn't getting too far ahead of himself.
"I definitely have a lot to get better at. It's like a stepping stone. I try not to get too high or too low on myself, even though I am hard on myself," admitted Melton. "I know this is just scraping the surface of what I can do. I always take that mindset and never get too happy with a game."
