point guard

Freshman point guard Phillip Reed Jr. of Palisades entered high school ready to sink or swim going against varsity players who were stronger and more experienced.

“I wanted to jump into the water head first,” he said.

His progress is similar to that of other freshmen given opportunities to produce immediately. The early days of adjustment and uncertainty have been left behind. With each game confidence grows and signs of real potential can be seen like the sun rising in the morning.

“Pressure is a privilege. That’s how I look at it,” Reed said. “It’s not really pressure. It’s a challenge.”

He’s been preparing for this moment since he was 4. He lives in Compton and takes online classes to attend Palisades, using extra time during the day to work out with his father, a former high school football player at Inglewood. His mother also was an athlete at West Virginia Tech.

In the early games for Palisades, Reed saw the challenges. “Everybody is pretty much stronger than me, so it was using my IQ,” he said. “It’s a little more physical.”

The 6-foot-3 Reed can do everything a point guard is expected to do — dribble, make shots from anywhere on the court, be a distributor when needed. He’s averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Southland is filled with promising freshman guards, and they know each other, having played with or against each other for years.

“Everybody in this freshman class is pushing each other to be better,” Reed said.

Some other freshman guards making an immediate impact:

Freshman guard Will Conroy Jr. of Village Christian.

(Craig Weston)

Will Conroy Jr., Village Christian: He’s had a high game of 41 points. His father is an assistant at USC, so he’s had coaching and plenty of examples on how to move forward. He came into Friday averaging 27 points. He’s probably the No. 1 freshman in California.

Conroy delivered a victory over Crespi early in the season by calmly sinking a shot in the final seconds. His ability to handle pressure has been impressive.

Freshman guard Quali Giran of Long Beach Millikan.

(Steve Galluzzo)

Quali Giran, Long Beach Millikan: From the very first game he has lived up to the hype of a freshman ready to contribute immediately. He’s averaging 24 points.

Zach Arnold, San Gabriel Academy: On a team with a 6-11 center, it has been Arnold’s contributions against top opponents that have been most impressive. He helped his team beat No. 2-ranked Redondo Union.

Tariq Johnson, Servite: There was no hesitation handing the ball to Johnson from the first practice and making him the leader on the court. He’s averaging 17 points.

Darrellreon Morris, St. Pius X-St. Matthias: Just watch him show off his maturity setting up star guard Kayleb Kearse for shots.

Braylon Sherwood, Chaminade: The 6-6 Sherwood is averaging 13 points and helped Chaminade win 18 of its first 19 games.

Travis Walton Jr., Eastvale Roosevelt: Coming off the bench, Walton has had several impressive games and still is adjusting to the physicality of playing against top opponents. He’s the son of a former Michigan State standout and a gym rat who coach Johnny Dukes said “will be a heck of a player when it’s all said and done.”’

JoJo Mariless, Damien: He’s moved into the starting lineup for 17-4 Damien. He can shoot and is showing unselfishness with his passing skills.

With three key players out because of injury and USC in desperate need of depth, the Trojans are taking the rare step of adding reinforcements at the midseason mark.

Point guard Kam Woods, who last played at Robert Morris, was added to the Trojans’ roster and cleared to play on Thursday, despite the fact that USC is already a dozen games into the basketball season.

Woods could make an immediate impact for coach Eric Musselman, having averaged 14.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last year at Robert Morris, where he played alongside current Trojan, Amarion Dickerson. Woods is expected to step into the rotation right away with USC, after the Trojans lost starting point guard Rodney Rice for the season.

What’s not clear is why Woods was still in the transfer portal two months into the college basketball calendar. USC had shown some interest in Woods during the offseason, according to a person familiar with the program who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, but Woods never signed with a team, despite being a second-team All-Horizon League selection.

Since he was still in the transfer portal and because he has already graduated, Woods is the rare case, outside of an international player or junior college player, that qualifies to be a midseason addition.

Woods has played five years of college basketball, bouncing around between five schools in that span. He started at Troy in 2020-21, before taking the junior college route at Northwest Florida State Community College during the 2021-22 season. He then transferred to North Carolina State, where he played sparingly over 13 games.

Woods landed with Robert Morris last season and emerged as the Colonials’ leading scorer as they won the Horizon League and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.

So, with this being his sixth year, how is Woods eligible to join another team? Eligibility-wise, he actually falls under the same category as the Trojans’ leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, who is playing his sixth season of college basketball in 2025-26.

Due to the recent ruling in the Diego Pavia case, the season that Woods spent playing junior college does not count against his five years of eligibility. Plus, since Woods was a freshman during the 2020-21 season, he has an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic.

Had Woods played for another team during the first two months of the season, he would not be eligible to join the Trojans in December.

For USC, that fit could be especially fortunate. Without Rice, USC has used a combination of Jerry Easter, Jordan Marsh and Ryan Cornish at point guard. Woods will be the most experienced of the group.

Five-star freshman Alijah Arenas is expected to enter that picture in the coming weeks, too. Arenas was set to rejoin practice this week and will presumably be cleared to play some time in January.