University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
Q&A with Assistant Coach Will Conroy
June 12, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Conroy enters his third season on the staff of the USC Men’s Basketball team.
How did you get into coaching?
COACH CONROY: I didn't want to coach at first and then [former University of Washington Head Coach] Lorenzo Romar talked me into it. He said I was naturally a coach because I was always a captain on my teams. As I was getting towards the end of my career, I started to take on more of a leadership role, and I embraced it. I would start training guys back in Seattle — whether it was NBA guys, college guys or high school guys — and it evolved into Romar asking me if I wanted to join his staff at Washington.
What were some of the biggest lessons you learned as you started out your coaching career? What traits did you really pick up on as you were developing as a leader and a coach?
COACH CONROY: Coach Romar always taught me to be early. He taught me to treat everybody with respect. One thing about Coach Romar is that he treats everybody the same way: He doesn't treat anybody better or worse than the next guy. And another quality he instilled in me is his loyalty to people. One of the things that stuck with me is he's never missed any weddings or childbirths for any one of my teammates. He was at every one of them. When he's in that position of mentorship, he doesn't say it or spew it at you — you just pick up on it. Those traits will always stay with me for the rest of my career.
When you were in college, you went from a walk-on to not only a starting point guard, but one of the best pass-first point guards at Washington. What lessons did you take away from the experience of turning that program around?
COACH CONROY: Being part of the turnaround with Coach Romar as a coach, I helped recruit a lot of the local kids, which was very important because when you have a unique place like where we were at, there's a passion that comes with representing your home state. Fans get behind people who are passionate about the city that they're from. I think the hardest part was getting us all to believe in the same mission. Some guys want to go to the league, some guys want to impress their families, and some players have their own goals. Being able to block out all of the outside noise was the hardest part, but once we did that, those teams were really fun.
When you played at Washington, you played with Seattle guys like Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson. Now, you're coaching Jacob Cofie, another player from Seattle. From your experience growing up and playing there, what makes Seattle basketball special?
COACH CONROY: One of the things that makes Seattle basketball special is all of our players are well-rounded. You don't usually have a player from Seattle who's only good at one thing. The guys that came up that all the kids look up to could pass, dribble, and shoot. You look at Dejounte Murray, Brandon Roy and Jamal Crawford, and all three of those players aren't one-dimensional. When Seattle kids are growing up and wanting to be like those guys, it makes them multifaceted, multi-skilled players.
Speaking of players on this year's roster: Jacob Cofie, Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice are the returning core from last year. What do you expect from these three players coming into this year, compared to what you expected last year?
COACH CONROY: They'll be way ahead of the learning curve this year. They know what the Big Ten feels like, they know what Coach Muss' terminology, coaching and his substitution patterns are like. They'll be able to teach the newcomers about how our program goes, so the transition going into the year will be much simpler.
Some of the returners will have new roles as vocal leaders. How have you seen Jacob Cofie grow after going through the NBA and G-League Combines over the offseason?
COACH CONROY: He's definitely gained a new level of confidence because he feels like now he belongs. He probably could have gotten drafted, but since he knows he's close now, he's able to gain confidence. He knows exactly what Coach Muss wants from him, all the drills and all the concepts, so it's easy for him to go teach them to the others.
Another player that is coming back this year after going through the pre-draft process is Alijah Arenas. Even though last year was full of adversity, how have you seen him grow through it, and what do you think he'll be able to do this year?
COACH CONROY: He's going to be great. He's going to have a monster year because he was hurt and he played through a lot of injuries last year. When he rolled his ankle, he probably could have sat out, but he played through it. Now he's got a feel for the Big Ten. He's not coming back three-quarters into the season, where he was trying to pack everything into such little time. Now he can work with us all summer, and it's going to help him.
The roster has 10 newcomers as well. Two of them, Eric Reibe and KJ Lewis, were highly sought-after in the transfer portal. What do you expect from them this year?
COACH CONROY: Eric probably would have been the starting center at UConn this year. He showed really promising glimpses last year when he was getting minutes, and I think for him, he just needed a new environment. I think he wanted to expand his game a little bit. We're going to let him step out on the floor a little bit, be a bit of a point center and do some of the things that he did in high school. I think a big sell for him here was the opportunity to restart and regain his confidence.
KJ is a dog, man. He wants to win. He's gonna do everything at all costs. It doesn't matter what the job is or what it entails — he just wants to do it to win. So when you have guys like that who are skilled and as good as KJ, you've got a pretty good team.
Along with them, USC is bringing in three highly-ranked freshmen in Christian Collins, plus Adonis and Darius Ratliff. What are they going to bring to the group and what have you seen in them as they've started summer practice?
COACH CONROY: Their talent and their length stand out. The Ratliff twins can do things that other guys can only dream of doing — like, you can really only create players like them on NBA 2K. Because they've been so much better, talented and taller than everybody, the biggest key is turning their motors on. Once they do that, their ceiling is ridiculous. They'll be on NBA championship teams at some point. And while Christian Collins is a little bit shorter than those guys, that guy's motor never stops. He'll be a fan favorite because of how hard he plays. He can do a little bit of everything: he's an offensive rebounding machine and he can go down the lane and dunk on you. He's going to be fun to watch while we have him.
USC also has three mid-major guards who are moving up to the Power-4 ranks this year. What stands out about Jadis Jones, Jalen Cox and Isaac Bruns?
COACH CONROY: Jadis Jones is a Swiss Army knife. He's probably 6'5" with a 7'1" wingspan, he jumps out of the gym and he just has a relentless nose for the ball. And when you have all those things in one, then you've got a guy who can be one of the best rebounders in the nation at his position.
The thing that stands out about Jalen Cox is his speed. I think Jalen has speed that can change the game. He can score the ball and he can really run the show as a pure point guard.
Isaac Bruns can flat-out shoot it. Every time we're in the gym together, I see him go 9-for-10 in every spot. Those guys create gravity on the floor, so when they're on the floor, you have to pay attention to them.
Joshua Hughes and Aaron Hunkin-Claytor are two more veterans coming to USC this season. What will they provide to the team this year?
COACH CONROY: Aaron's going to be one of the biggest leaders on the team. He's already really vocal and he's going to be another voice in the locker room when the coaches aren't around. He's going to do all the right things all the time, and he's going to set the table when he's on the court. Josh is as solid as they come. He can shoot it, he's tough, he's physical, he's got length. He's going to make the right play every time he touches the floor.
Who should fans keep an eye on to have a breakout season this year?
COACH CONROY: Fans didn't get a chance to see Rodney Rice a ton last year. I think Rodney is going to continue on the path he was on last year. Jacob will have a good year and I think Alijah is going to have a good year, too. And Eric Reibe is primed to really blow up. It's hard to leave out guys because so many of our guys can have great years. I think this year is going to present an opportunity for everybody. It's going to be a fun year.
