Alijah Arenas, the son of NBA legend Gilbert Arenas, has as high of expectations as any incoming freshman in the country after committing to the USC Trojans basketball program as the No. 13 recruit in the country. But unfortunately, fans may not see him in his freshman season after it was reported on Wednesday that Arenas had suffered an injury that could alter the path of his basketball career.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Arenas has suffered a torn meniscus that will require surgery, which places a timeline of six to eight months where he is expected to be sidelined. Obviously, this puts his freshman season in doubt.
This comes after Arenas had just been cleared two weeks prior after suffering a car accident where he sustained life threatening injuries, even being placed in a medically induced coma briefly before coming out of the coma and recovering enough to return playing basketball.
It’s an incredibly unfortunate series of events for Arenas, who on paper has all of the talent to live up to the legacy of his father if his body can hold up throughout his career.
Obviously, there is no real bright side to this incredibly unfortunate news. But thankfully, he does at least have the full support of the USC program, according to USC head coach Eric Musselman, who issued a statement on social media about Arenas’ injury.
“Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,” wrote Musselman on X. “He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to supporting him during this process.”
Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person. He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to… https://t.co/XFzaA4He6H pic.twitter.com/mIO3896MFN
— Eric Musselman (@EricPMusselman) July 24, 2025
If the six to eight month window that Haynes placed on Arenas’ recovery holds up, that would have Arenas being cleared to play by January at the earliest, which is obviously right in the middle of the thick of USC’s season.
Chances are, it would take Arenas some time to get up to speed after being out for so long. So it at least seems likely that Arenas may very well miss all of his freshman season, or at least the vast majority.
Hopefully, Arenas is able to recover faster than the timelines placed on him currently…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.