USC will be short a member of its highly regarded 2018 recruiting class when the season begins, as the program announced Thursday that freshman guard Elijah Weaver has undergone surgery on his right ankle.
The procedure was done to repair the tissue that supports the tendons in Weaver’s ankle, which he injured last week, and the freshman is expected to miss up to three months. The 6-foot-5 freshman from Cocoa, Florida is a four-star recruit who was expected to be a part of the Trojans’ perimeter rotation.
Weaver’s ability to play either on or off the ball is an important attribute for a USC roster that, with the graduation of Jordan McLaughlin, has just one traditional point guard in Derryck Thornton Jr. Weaver and fellow freshman Kevin Porter Jr. join a group of perimeter players that includes Thornton, Shaqquan Aaron, Jonah Mathews, Charles O’Bannon Jr. and Jordan Usher.
6-foot-8 forward J’Raan Brooks, who like Weaver and Porter was considered to be a four-star prospect, rounds out the freshman class for a USC program that should be a factor in the Pac-12 this season.