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Starting Five: Will USC extend hot streak?

Out in Los Angeles, Andy Enfield and USC are riding a hot streak. Can they continue to extend it?

Also, another look at Clifford Omoruyi's commitment to Rutgers and more in this week's edition of the Starting Five.

1. USC IS ON A HOT STREAK THAT MAY NOT BE OVER

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Coronavirus may have kept Andy Enfield from leading USC back to the NCAA Tournament after a two year hiatus, but outside of having to end its season earlier than expected, the Trojans have been winning of late.

I don't think they are done either.

Last week, there was a commitment spree. First, top 50 junior guard Reese Dixon-Waters committed. They also received lots of good publicity from former five-star Onyeka Okongwu announcing that he's off to the NBA -- and likely as an NBA Lottery pick -- after just one year on campus, something not a lot of people expected. The Trojans also signed a home-and-home deal with Kansas and they added a pair of graduate transfers in Santa Clara's Tahj Eaddy and Utah Valley's Isaiah White. Friday night, they capped things off by landing another four-star junior in combo guard Malik Thomas.

Thomas is really good. He's physical, he gets to the rim and he plays with a take-no-crap attitude on both ends of the floor. His addition gives USC the No. 2 class in 2021 at this early stage.

But as I said, I don't think the Trojans are done. Last week in our making the case series, I wrote that I felt USC had the best chance with Ziaire Williams, 2020's No. 6 player. I feel even stronger about it today than I did a week ago and I wouldn't be surprised if we hear something in the near future about him being ready to decide.

Now, that would be a way to continue a hot streak.

2. ONE MORE LOOK AT OMORUYI TO RUTGERS

Last weekend, we broke the news that Rutgers had landed top 40 big man Clifford Omoruyi.

I wanted to take a minute and give that recruiting win a little more attention. Because it's not every day that a program lands its highest-ranked recruit since 2003 (Shooting guard Quincy Douby who ranked No. 52).

Normally, I don't put too much stock into saying that one recruit or another "sends a message". But this time, landing Omoruyi really does send a message.

Many, myself included, didn't give Steve Pikiell and the Scarlet Knights a great chance given the tough competition they had for Omoruyi. At least we didn't give them enough of a chance until very late. I'll say it now, though, they did a hell of a job in throwing up a fence around the 6-foot-10 shot blocker and now have a top 30 class coming off of their best season in quite some time.

I don't see any reason that they won't be good again in 2020-21 and they are already on board with four-star wing Jaden Jones in the 2021 class. You have to give credit where credit is due and Rutgers has earned plenty of it over the last six months.

3. MIZZOU KEEPS LOOKING LOCAL WITH LATEST OFFER

Over the past few weeks, Cuonzo Martin and Missouri have been reaching out to some of the top nearby talent as evidenced by recent offers to 2022 four-stars Aidan Shaw of Kansas City and Tarris Reed of St. Louis.

They kept that trend up on Sunday when they offered Rivals150 junior big man Yaya Keita of St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet. In addition to the Tigers' offer, Keita now has offers from Iowa, Missouri State, Saint Louis, Southern Illinois and Tulsa. Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia are among the others who are tracking him closely.

Keita is the type of big man that Martin really likes. He's extremely tough, he is active on the glass and he plays with a big-time motor. His offense is coming along as well and he was on track for a big spring. It's also of note that Keita's high school head coach Kent Williams previously worked for Martin as an assistant coach.

4. WHAT A WILD SPRING AT WICHITA STATE

Has there been any program that has had a more wild ride during the spring than Wichita State?

An NCAA bubble team in 2019-20, the Shockers were looking really good for next season with almost everybody who mattered coming back. Many of them having a few years left in Wichita. Then the transfers starting hitting and by the end of last week, they'd lost seven scholarship players to the transfer portal.

Ouch.

Tell you what though, it's hard not to be impressed by how quickly Gregg Marshall and his staff have replaced a lot of that talent. They landed four players over the weekend. UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert has a chance to be very good and he certainly has proven that he can play in the AAC. High school senior Ricky Council IV is an athletic scorer and junior college point guard Craig Porter gives them another ball handler.

They guy who intrigues me the most, though, is Newport News (Va.) Menchville standout Chaunce Jenkins. I'm not sure how Jenkins has managed to fly under the radar as much as he has -- with coaches and scouts -- but watching film of him he sure looks like a nice find. He's an electric athlete, he plays in attack mode and he's got a jump shot that doesn't look too bad. I won't be at all surprised if he turns into a pretty high level player, and quickly, for the Shockers.

5. TEXAS MADE THE RIGHT CALL ON SHAKA SMART

Shaka Smart
Shaka Smart (USA Today)

As recently as early February, things were looking a little, actually a lot, shaky for Shaka Smart and his future at Texas.

Over the weekend, Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte confirmed that Smart will be back and he made the right call.

For one, firing anybody and paying a big buyout in today's climate would be a pretty bad look. More importantly, though, Smart earned another year based on the way the Longhorns got their collective stuff together and finished strong winning five of their last six games.

They should return quite a bit of talent for next season. They'll have an experienced guard trio of Matt Coleman, Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones. They'll also have plenty of size and athleticism. Most likely, too, they'll have top 10 senior Greg Brown who will be one of the freakiest athletes in all of college basketball next season.

Seriously, this is a team that has the talent to compete for a Big 12 title next season. Smart will certainly begin the season with some heat on him, but he's got a roster that could take a lot of it off of him if his guys play to their talent level.

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