National Player of the Year Isaiah Collier on Committing to USC, Handling the Spotlight and Making His Game Complete

Isaiah Collier might soon get used to having rappers and Heisman Trophy winners sitting courtside at his games, in higher at USC next season or in the NBA without that. But when he took the magistrate in his soon-to-be home gym in L.A. when in January, the star-studded prod was a bit of a novelty. And a memorable one.

“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but it was a unconfined experience,” Collier says without his Wheeler (GA) Upper squad fell to SoCal power Sierra Canyon at USC’s Galen Center while 2 Chainz, Lil Dicky, Caleb Williams and other luminaries looked on. “Seeing all those celebrities courtside, the sustentation leading up to the game, it was new to me, and it was definitely intense. But it was great.”

The prod was drawn in large part by a Sierra Canyon roster dotted with names like Hardaway, Pippen and James, of course, but the savvy fans in the towers knew all well-nigh Collier, too. The 6-4, 205-pound lead baby-sit is a consensus top-five player in the 2023 class—and depending on which ranking you check, you might just find him at No. 1. He didn’t have his weightier game in L.A., but plane on an off night—he scored 17 in the loss—he showed plenty of signs of the skill set that made him arguably the most coveted prospect in the country.

The Trojans secured Collier’s transferral last November, and moreover signed his Wheeler teammate, top-60 big man Arrinten Page. They’re now a squad that could rencontre for Pac-12 and national honors next spring. For Collier, the yank of L.A. was less well-nigh unexceptionable lights and famous fans than the endangerment to be near family and thrive in a system perfectly suited to his game.

“I got a lot of family out there—my brother and uncle, a lot of my cousins, they’re really all in L.A.,” he says. “And definitely Mentor [Andy] Enfield, the program they have, I want to help get them to a Final Four and play that style they ran when at Florida Gulf Coast. I still watch those ‘Dunk City’ March Madness highlights on YouTube—all the dunks.”

Collier is indeed the sort of player a mentor can build a championship contender around. Strong and savvy, he’s an sturdy baby-sit and unconfined passer who plays warlike but under control. Asked to name role models for his game, he offers the unlikely combination of Chris Paul—“his upper IQ, getting teammates involved, the way he uses the pick and roll”—and Ja Morant—“a little bit, not as athletic, but unchangingly attacking the rim.”

Collier won’t undeniability his game “complete” just yet—in particular, he knows his jump shot is still a work in progress—but he’s shown increasingly than unbearable on some of the biggest stages at the prep level to justify the lofty ranking and upper expectations. It was his run last summer that confirmed just how good he is and could still be. Coming off a knee injury, he snatched MVP honors at both Stephen Curry Camp and Under Armour Elite 24, then dominated on the EYBL circuit. He still has unfinished merchantry at Wheeler—a state championship was understandably at the top of his senior year to-do list—but as far as individual upper school résumés, Collier’s is stacked.

That résumé brings welcomed benefits—like the coveted photo shoot, seen here, he wrapped up a couple of days surpassing our call—as well as sustentation that could derail a player lacking his focus and family support system. But in either case, Collier is good. “I’d say it’s a blessing, but I don’t really pay sustentation to all that,” he says. “It’s unconfined to be recognized, and it’s moreover having a target on your back, getting everybody’s weightier game. But it doesn’t really impact me. I’ve got worthier goals in mind.”

Portraits by Matt Odom.

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