Why did Chad Baker-Mazara leave USC basketball? What to know of Troja… — and more

Chad Baker-Mazara's collegiate career appears to have come to an unceremonious end on Sunday, March 1.

Southern California announced that the sixth-year and graduate transfer is no longer with the program, following his decision to not re-enter Saturday's 82-67 loss against Nebraska.

REQUIRED READING: Ranking top 10 players in college basketball for conference tournaments

Baker-Mazara's exit from the team comes at an interesting time for the Trojans. The team had been on the first four out in USA TODAY Sports' latest bracketology, but have lost five games in a row.

Here's what you need to know about why Baker-Mazara left USC:

Why did Chad Baker-Mazara leave USC?

In his first year with USC ―and his sixth collegiate season ―Baker-Mazara led the Trojans with 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. All of his averages were career highs, as he started 22 of 26 games he appeared in for USC.

However, against Nebraska after scoring 14-first half points, Baker-Mazara exited the game three minutes into the second half after falling hard on the baseline while trying to chase down Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort. He went to the locker room and never re-entered the game.

"He said he couldn’t go," head coach Eric Musselman told reporters after the game.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times' Ryan Kartje, "it wasn’t any one incident, but an accumulation of issues that led to Baker-Mazara’s departure."

Does Chad Baker-Mazara have any eligibility left?

After playing six collegiate seasons, Baker-Mazara is out of eligibility, effectively ending his college career.

How old is Chad Baker-Mazara?

Baker-Mazara was born on Jan. 27, 2000. That made him 26 years old during the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Chad Baker-Mazara stats

Here's a look at Baker-Mazara's stats in his six collegiate basketball seasons:

• 2020-21 (Duquesne): 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game on 43.8% shooting, 41.7% 3-point shooting in 24.4 minutes per game (15 games, 13 starts)
• 2021-22 (San Diego State): 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game on 42% shooting, 39.3% 3-point shooting in 12.8 minutes per game (31 games, 0 starts)
• 2022-23 (Northwest Florida State): Did not play
• 2023-24 (Auburn): 10 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks per game on 45.2% shooting, 41.8% 3-point shooting in 21.7 minutes per game (35 games, 9 starts)
• 2024-25 (Auburn): 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks per game on 44.8% shooting, 38.1% 3-point shooting in 25.6 minutes per game (38 games, 34 starts)
• 2025-26 (USC): 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game on 44.4% shooting, 38.1% 3-point shooting in 29.6 minutes per game (26 games, 22 starts)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why did Chad Baker-Mazara depart USC basketball?

This year’s edition of the World Baseball Classic gets under way on what is, to us, Wednesday night with games kicking off in Tokyo. Most teams will be playing exhibitions against a major league club on Tuesday or Wednesday with their pool play beginning on Friday. The Orioles players who are on these rosters will not be back in camp until their team has been eliminated from the tournament.

Here’s the players from the Orioles organization who are on WBC rosters and the schedules for their teams:

USA

• Gunnar Henderson

The star Orioles shortstop is the lone American representative this time around. He might be playing third base rather than shortstop, with Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. expected to get a lot of reps at short.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Giants, 3pm, ESPN
• March 6: vs. Brazil (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 7: vs. Great Britain (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 9: vs. Mexico (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 10: vs. Italy (home team), 9pm, FS1

Canada

• Tyler O’Neill
• Micah Ashman

The Canadian outfielder O’Neill continued his Opening Day home run streak in his home country last year. He’s looked good so far this spring. Don’t get hurt while playing for Team Canada! Ashman, a reliever, was acquired from the Tigers for Charlie Morton last July.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Blue Jays, 1:07, MLB Network
• March 7: vs. Colombia (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 8: vs. Panama (home team), 7pm, FS2
• March 10: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 11: vs. Cuba (road team), 3pm, FS2

Great Britain

• Ryan Long

It’s a running joke on Camden Chat that Long is a distant cousin of our writer Stacey. Long, 26, was a 17th round pick in 2021 who has mostly topped out at the Double-A level.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 6: vs. Mexico (home team), 1pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. USA (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 8: vs. Italy (road team), 1pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Brazil (home team), 1pm, tubi

Israel

• Dean Kremer

There are a number of MLB-experienced players on the Israel roster and one of them is Kremer, who might even be the best pitcher this team has.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Miami, Florida

• March 7: vs. Venezuela (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 8: vs. Nicaragua (home team), 7pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Dominican Republic (home team), 12pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Netherlands (road team), 7pm, Fox Sports

Panama

• Enrique Bradfield Jr.

We know he’s good on defense and we know he’s fast on the bases. Can he threaten enough power to be a decent major league regular? Mostly we’ll find out at Triple-A this year, though if he gets to face some MLB-caliber pitching in the WBC, that won’t be bad for him either.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Cuba (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 7: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 8: vs. Canada (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 9: vs. Colombia (home team), 12pm, FS2

Puerto Rico

• Jose Espada
• Rico Garcia
• Luis Vázquez

All three of these players appeared for the Orioles last season, although none had a major role. Garcia has a spot penciled in that’s his in the bullpen. Espada could make it as well. Vázquez has an opportunity to take a utility spot given that both Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are starting the season on the injured list.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Colombia (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. Panama (home team), 6pm, FS1
• March 9: vs. Cuba (road team), 7pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Canada (home team), 7pm, tubi

Reserve players

The following players are on the Designated Pitcher Pool for their teams, meaning they are not on the active initial roster but could be added between rounds:

• Australia: Kailen Hamson
• Dominican Republic: Yaramil Hiraldo
• Mexico: Nestor German

The Detroit Lions are trading veteran running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Monday. 

The Texans will send their 2026 fourth-round pick, offensive line Juice Scruggs and a seventh rounder for Montgomery, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports.

The news comes just one day after Montgomery denied reports that he "wanted out" of Detroit.

This breaking news story will be updated.