By the middle of next season, Chad Baker-Mazara will be playing college basketball at 26 years old. But he’s no longer the SEC’s problem to deal with.
According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Baker-Mazara has committed to play his final college season for Eric Musselman and the Southern California Trojans. The 6-foot-7 lefty spent his last two seasons at Auburn, making Third-Team All-SEC in 2024-25. He entered his name into the portal on April 17 and was even linked to Kentucky early on, but elected to head out west.
Baker-Mazara is considered the 32nd-best player to enter the portal this offseason by On3.
Baker-Mazara has been a controversial figure in college hoops due to his trash-talking and being one of the older players in the sport. He’ll turn 26 years old in January. A native of the Dominican Republic, he began his career at Duquesne (2020-21) before spending the following season at San Diego State. He then made the move to JUCO in 2022-23 to Northwest Florida State before returning to the Division I level at Auburn for the last two seasons.
The JUCO year does not count against his college eligibility, and neither does the 2020-21 season that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Baker-Mazara had his best season in 2024-25, averaging 12.3 points, three rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.2 steals in 25.6 minutes per outing while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from deep. There was speculation he could return to Auburn or move within the SEC, but Southern California was the school able to pull it off.
The Trojans have reloaded through the portal this season. Baker-Mazara is one of eight incoming transfers for Musselman, joining Rodney Rice (Maryland), Ezra Ausar (Utah), Gabe Dynes (Youngstown State), Jaden Brownell (Samford), Keonte Jones (California State University-Northridge), Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris), and Jacob Cofie (Virginia). On3 ranks that group as the fourth-best portal class of the offseason.
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