USC guard Isaiah Collier to miss 4-6 weeks because of hand injury

USC star guard Isaiah Collier, a projected NBA lottery pick, will miss the next four to six weeks with a hand injury, the school announced Thursday night.

Collier was injured in Wednesday's loss to Washington State.

A 6-foot-5 freshman, Collier entered the season as the favorite to be selected No. 1 overall in the 2024 NBA draft. However, the Georgia native's campaign has featured plenty of ups and downs, as USC has struggled en route to an 8-8 record. Collier opened the season with 18 points and six assists in a win over Kansas State, and had 23 and 24 points in back-to-back games against UC Irvine and Brown, respectively, in mid-November.

Over the next 10 games, Collier averaged just 12.4 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 22.6% from 3-point range. He had started to regain his form once the calendar turned to 2024, going for 13 points and seven assists in a win over California and 26 points and three 3-pointers in a win over Stanford on Jan. 6.

Through 16 games, Collier is averaging 15.4 points and 4.1 assists and is currently ranked No. 8 in ESPN's NBA draft rankings.

With Collier sidelined, more minutes should be available for freshman guard Bronny James. James has been the first guard off the bench for the Trojans, and although James has struggled with his shot the past two games, he's shown flashes of his two-way ability in Pac-12 play. James had 15 points and three assists in a loss to Oregon State on Dec. 30 and followed that up with 10 points and three assists in the win over California.

"Bronny [is] a very smart basketball player," coach Andy Enfield said after the Stanford win. "And he plays hard every possession and defensively he helps us. He gets deflections, he can guard the ball on smaller guys and he's strong enough to guard bigger guys. So far, so good."

USC heads to Colorado (11-5) on Saturday.