By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
St. John Bosco (CA) guard Elzie Harrington, the No. 47 recruit in ESPN’s class of 2025 rankings, flipped his commitment to USC on New Year’s Eve after previously committing to Harvard in June.
Harrington, a 6-foot-5 offensive playmaker who adds versatile defense to his blend of scoring and facilitating, was going to be the highest ranked recruit Harvard had ever landed at the time of his commitment.
However, his switch to USC was a logical step for Harrington, in part because he gets to stay in California for college after making a name – and a sense of community – for himself through his time at St. John Bosco.
Harrington values the opportunity to play close to his family, something he is afforded at USC. He also is excited to be close to home for the flexibility he will have in his schedule.
“It’s a big deal for my family to be able to come see me play,” Harrington said. “I can go home and see them when I want to.
Harrington, who committed to USC over other schools such as UCLA and Arizona State, cited USC head coach Eric Musselman’s development abilities as a factor in his decision to commit to the Trojans.
“Obviously coach Musselman is a great coach,” Harrington said. “He’s great with big guards.”
That latter point represents a highlight of Musselman’s coaching abilities, and something that Harrington believes he can benefit from.
Tall, athletic guards have been a staple of Musselman coached teams in his previous stints at Nevada and Arkansas.
Musselman has a history of developing players in this mold, whether it be Caleb Martin, who helped a Nevada coached Musselman team reach the Sweet 16 in 2018, Moses Moody, a talented scorer who Musselman coached while at Arkansas and helped develop into a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, or current USC junior Desmond Claude.
Harrington also shares stylistic similarities with these players that go beyond the position they play. Moody displayed his scoring instincts and playmaking abilities in his lone year with the Razorbacks, with a similar build (6-foot-6, 205 lbs.) to Harrington.
Claude’s profile resembles Harrington’s, as well. A 6-foot-5, 207 pound guard, Claude serves as a catalyst of USC’s offense, a role Harrington will look to fill once he arrives on campus in the fall.
In the meantime, Harrington turned in a performance a bit below his usual level at Hoophall on Saturday afternoon. He posted 10 points, four rebounds and three assists against Paul VI High School (NJ) on 4-10 shooting from the field.
As Harrington establishes himself as one of the nation’s better high school basketball players, defenses naturally key in on him. However, his development is still firmly trending upward as he fine-tunes his skillset.
Harrington understands his role as a leader for the Braves, and he does his best to be a quality teammate while also operating as one of the driving forces on the team.
“My team trusts me, my coach trusts me,” Harrington said. “So I try to do my best to have their backs and do my part.
(Photo by Braedan Shea/The Student)