After a long wait, Alijah Arenas finally made his debut for the USC Trojans on Wednesday against the visiting Northwestern Wildcats at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Many in attendance were there not just to show support for the Trojans but to get a glimpse of the son of former three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas. The freshman gave the crowd something to go crazy over early when he attacked the basket and finished at the rim with an incredible 360-layup minutes into the game.
Just take a look at this spectacular aerial maneuver by the 18-year-old guard.
This is gonna be fun 😈
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 22, 2026
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/mp0Jy6ZFSu
That was the second basket of Arenas in the contest, but he also made just one more after that, the rest of the way. He finished with just 8 points on a salty 3-for-15 shooting from the field to go with a 2-for-6 shooting from the foul line.
Still, just seeing action on the court can be considered a huge success for Arenas. He had to recover from a serious knee injury in July, which he sustained just months after he was involved in a car accident that left him hospitalized.
The Trojans got 19 points off the bench from Jordan Marsh and 17 points from Ezra Ausar, but the Trojans ended up suffering a 74-68 loss to Chris Collins’ Wildcats.
