Chad Baker-Mazara no longer playing for USC: Trojans’ NCAA Tournament hopes continue to fade with loss of star

On Saturday, bubble team USC got dropped 82-67 at home to No. 14 Nebraska.

On Sunday, matters worsened for an 18-11 Trojans squad that has lost five in a row and is playing its way out of NCAA Tournament contention.

The school announced that 26-year-old grad student Chad Baker-Mazara “is no longer a member of the USC Men’s Basketball program.” CBS Sports reached out to the school for further clarification on the nature of the split but did not immediately hear back. 

Baker-Mazara took a fall with 17 minutes to go in the second half on Sunday after trying to make a block on a fast break. He did not return to action. When he reappeared after being treated in the locker room, Baker-Mazara watched the rest of the game from the baseline as opposed to the sideline bench with his teammates.

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A player leaving a team before the end of the regular season is not unheard of but it is highly uncommon. Baker-Mazara was averaging 18.5 points per game in addition to 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He transferred to the program last spring after departing from Auburn following his prominent role on a No. 1 seed. 

Baker-Mazara’s bizarre exit means USC no longer has its top two scorers and portal gets from last season; Rodney Rice (20.3 ppg) hasn’t played since injuring his right shoulder in mid-December. The Trojans got off to a good start, winning the Maui Invitational en route to a 12-1 record. Since then the team has gone 6-10, its chances of making the Big Dance dwindling by the game. USC is tenuously on the bubble and listed in the “next four out” in our Sunday morning Bracketology. The Trojans will wrap the regular season at Washington on Wednesday and then host rival UCLA on Saturday.