USC forward Chimezie Metu was named the Most Improved Player of the Year and two other Trojans were honored when the Pac-12 announced its men's basketball all-conference honors today.Click here for the full release!
Metu became the second Trojan to ever win the Most Improved Award, after Nikola Vucevic earned it in 2010. He did so by more than doubling his scoring and rebounding output from last year (6.4 PPG & 3.6 RPG in 2016 to 14.4 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 2017). The sophomore has started all 31 games this year and leads the Trojans in points and blocks. In addition to Most Improved, Metu earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Academic Honorable Mention ( the law, history and culture major boasts a 3.17 GPA).
Junior captain Jordan McLaughlin landed a spot on the Pac-12 Honorable Mention Team. The PG averaged 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this year, and has heated up in the last few games to put the Trojans in good shape for the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournament. McLaughlin was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week today after finishing just shy of a triple-double and a double-double, respectively, in the last two games. Today's was McLaughlin's second weekly conference award of the year, making him the first Trojan to earn two in a season since Harold Miner in 1991-92. He's been the steadying force for USC all season, but has also exploded for some of the most exciting moments of the year. This is the second season in a row McLaughlin has earned Honorable Mention.
Freshman De'Anthony Melton rounded out the honorees, earning All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention marks. His 60 steals this season rank third all-time by a freshman in USC history, third in the Pac-12 and sixth among the nation's freshman this year. The L.A. native, who stepped into a starting role just before the midpoint of the season, has also posted 33 blocks this season, the third-most on the team.
On Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Trojans descend upon Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament. Click here to read the full preview of their first-round matchup with 11-seed Washington.
