“It felt like the best fit,” Alijah Arenas said on Gil’s Arena, his dad Gilbert Arenas’ podcast. “Seeing what USC was like, it made me feel special.” The five-star shooting guard committed to the USC Trojans in January 2025, making headlines for doing it on his father’s show, via a FaceTime with his coach. But that special moment might be hitting a pause. Alijah recently suffered a knee injury that could impact his next steps.

It’s been a tough few months for the young star. Back in April, he crashed his Tesla Cybertruck into a fire hydrant and a tree while heading home from the gym. The car caught fire, and he was trapped inside for nearly 10 minutes before breaking through the driver’s side window to escape. Though he was stable at the scene, he was placed in a medically induced coma due to smoke inhalation. He spent six days in the hospital but, thankfully, avoided any major injuries.

But just as he was moving forward, another setback followed. Senior NBA insider, Chris Haynes, dropped the news on X, “USC’s prized recruit Alijah Arenas has suffered a tear of the meniscus, putting him in jeopardy of missing the entire 2025-26 college basketball season, league sources tell me.” The same news hit Instagram via Ball is Life, and right beneath it, NBA legend Tracy McGrady summed up what many are still thinking with just two words: “He nice!!”

Alijah Arenas is expected to be sidelined for six to eight months after suffering a knee injury that will require surgery, USC announced on Wednesday. The timing of the injury is a serious blow, putting the highly anticipated freshman season of the son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas in jeopardy. If the timeline holds, Alijah could miss most—if not all—of the 2025–26 college basketball season.

“Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,” USC coach Eric Musselman said in the statement. “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.”

Is Alijah Arenas NBA ready?

If you’ve followed high school hoops even a little over the last couple years, chances are you’ve heard the name Alijah Arenas. The 6’6″ guard from Chatsworth High wasn’t just good—he was must-watch every time he stepped on the court. Whether it was a 53-point, 11-rebound monster night to push his team into the Southern California regional final, or casually dropping 30.4 points, 7.4 boards, 4 assists, and 2.1 steals a game this season—Alijah was that guy. Oh, and don’t forget, he also led Chatsworth to back-to-back CIF State final appearances. That hadn’t been done by an LA City Section school since Westchester did it in 2009 and 2010. Big stuff.

But this wasn’t just about box scores. Alijah became the first LA City Section player since 2009 to earn McDonald’s All-American honors, and he did that while putting up 3,002 career points—becoming only the 14th player in California history to hit the 3K milestone. He was also named Sports Illustrated’s All-CIF SoCal Offensive Player of the Year and made the 2025 All-California CIF State boys basketball team. In the McDonald’s game, he added 11 points and knocked down a pair of threes as Team West took the win. And if you need one more name to co-sign the hype, here’s what Tracy McGrady posted in 2024: “He can play in the NBA right now!!!!” That was a year ago. And honestly? It hits even harder today.

Arenas, who reclassified to the 2025 class and is currently ranked No. 10 by 247Sports, drew heavy interest from bluebloods like Kansas, Kentucky, and Arizona before choosing USC. He was expected to be the Trojans’ biggest addition since Isaiah Collier in 2023—and projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In a one-on-one with Forbes, he said, “It’s scoring… But I’ve actually thought about that and I really want to change that. I don’t want it to just be scoring. I want it to be many other things.” We might have to wait a little while to see that next phase, but one thing’s clear—Alijah’s just getting started.