University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
Photo by: John McGillen
Q&A with Joshua Hughes
July 03, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES — With a talented mix of returners, transfers and blue-chip freshman recruits, the USC Men's Basketball team is looking to make the NCAA Tournament in Head Coach Eric Musselman's third year.
One of the incoming transfers, senior forward Joshua Hughes, sat down to talk about his college basketball journey from Australia to Evansville, the Australian basketball connection he has with Assistant Coach Brad Davidson, and the goals for the upcoming season.
When you went in the transfer portal after playing at Evansville, what were you looking for in your next opportunity and what stood out to you about USC initially?
What I was looking for was a winning culture. I wanted the opportunity to come play in the Big Ten and be a part of a rebuild that was returning three really great guys. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.
What was your first impression of the coaching staff? Did Brad Davidson recruit you quite a bit because of the Australian connection you have?
Immediately, Coach Brad was the one who told me if USC was something I wanted to explore, that I should keep in touch with him. From there, he brought me up to the rest of the coaching staff and, from what I gathered, they were pretty excited about me and wanted to continue talking to me. I was fully on board after that.
What is it like having an NBL great like Brad Davidson coach you and help guide you to the next level?
It's unreal. I think Australians in general tend to take care of each other — especially in this line of work. He's been a monumental part of my decision to be here. No matter where I went, there wasn't going to be another Coach Brad somewhere else. Coach Brad is a legend in Australia — he's well-known, well-liked and I've looked up to him from a young age. Coming here to USC is really cool to make that connection with him and finally get to cross paths with him.
Who were some of your biggest basketball influences growing up, whether it was guys ahead of you in the Australian basketball system or people you watched in the NBA?
Early on, it was definitely Nick Kay. He was from the same area as me. More recently, other guys I've watched are Andrew Bogut, Jock Landale, Nathan Jawai — even though I don't really play like him — and Tyrell Harrison. Any of the Aussie bigs, really.
In the NBA, I love to watch Lauri Markkanen. He's probably my favorite player that I try to model my game after and I like to see how he works.
How would you describe your style of play?
I play a gritty type of basketball where I'm willing to knock down threes and play defense. That's what I'm good at and that's why I'm here. I'm going to work hard. I don't play a flashy type of basketball, but I play a style that works.
What has your college basketball journey been like so far?
Coming over to the States was definitely a shock. I didn't get many in-person recruiting opportunities coming out of high school — it was mostly just phone calls — and it all happened pretty late. It really just came down to forming relationships over the phone, and Evansville did a great job with that. My coach at Evansville, Craig Snow, recruited me and I still love the coaching staff over there. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was just excited to be there.
Over the past three years, I've gotten to play against some great teams. We played at No. 1 Purdue last year, for example, plus Ohio State, Cincinnati and BYU during my freshman and sophomore years. Getting those experiences during the non-conference games was really important and helped me realize that was the level I wanted to get to. Now being here at USC, I can see that level of competition firsthand.
Knowing the Power 4 level was what I wanted to get to and getting the experience to play against some of those teams really gave me the drive for the rest of my training throughout my three years at Evansville.
What was it like playing Purdue in Mackey Arena, going up against the preseason No. 1 team with NBA-caliber players and ending up with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double? How much confidence did that give you moving forward?
I had confidence going into the game. Going forward, that game reassured me of the confidence I already had. I had a great offseason going into that game and I was ready to play. I said in one of the huddles, "I'm having fun, it's great to be here, let's do it.'
What's interesting, though, is I told my coaches that I wouldn't play like I did at Purdue if I didn't play Power 4 schools earlier in my career. I played awful at BYU and at Ohio State during my freshman and sophomore years, so I think having those experiences helped me know what to expect once I was a veteran on that team. I was the only guy on my team who had had those experiences against Power 4 schools, so I was ready to bring the other guys with me.
How has it been trying to establish chemistry with everybody this summer? What do you think the potential for this team is this year?
It's been easy to establish chemistry because we get after it every day, we're just getting better and we're having that shared adversity in practice. Summer practices form bonds because you're going through it with the guy next to you. We're in the locker room together joking around after whatever we've just done, then we're doing school and going to weights together. There's no getting out of it. That's what we're here to do: We're here to get better.
Right now in college basketball, teams are really valuing big men and having positional size in the frontcourt. What's it been like working with players like Jacob Cofie, Eric Reibe and the Ratliff twins in practice?
We're pretty stacked. Going at them every day, I try to just contribute any way I can. They're all great players and I'm a great player too. But we all have our niches and we're figuring out how we can make each other better every day. It was what I wanted when I came here. I wanted to be around guys who are going to push me every day. Earlier in my career, I didn't get that development from pushing myself against another guy that was also going to be in the starting lineup. Whether I see the results this year or further into my pro career, I know I'm going to get better.
What are some of the goals that you have personally and individually for the team this season?
I think making March Madness is one of the main goals we have as a team. There is no reason that we shouldn't make the tournament. I think we could be a force to be reckoned with.
Individually, this is my first time playing on a team that's this good. Learning the ropes and being a sponge around all these veteran coaches like Coach Muss, who has all the experience you could want in a coach, and Coach Brad. I've been trying to really look to these guys and see where they can take me. It's exciting to be in such a good place like this.
One of the incoming transfers, senior forward Joshua Hughes, sat down to talk about his college basketball journey from Australia to Evansville, the Australian basketball connection he has with Assistant Coach Brad Davidson, and the goals for the upcoming season.
When you went in the transfer portal after playing at Evansville, what were you looking for in your next opportunity and what stood out to you about USC initially?
What I was looking for was a winning culture. I wanted the opportunity to come play in the Big Ten and be a part of a rebuild that was returning three really great guys. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.
What was your first impression of the coaching staff? Did Brad Davidson recruit you quite a bit because of the Australian connection you have?
Immediately, Coach Brad was the one who told me if USC was something I wanted to explore, that I should keep in touch with him. From there, he brought me up to the rest of the coaching staff and, from what I gathered, they were pretty excited about me and wanted to continue talking to me. I was fully on board after that.
What is it like having an NBL great like Brad Davidson coach you and help guide you to the next level?
It's unreal. I think Australians in general tend to take care of each other — especially in this line of work. He's been a monumental part of my decision to be here. No matter where I went, there wasn't going to be another Coach Brad somewhere else. Coach Brad is a legend in Australia — he's well-known, well-liked and I've looked up to him from a young age. Coming here to USC is really cool to make that connection with him and finally get to cross paths with him.
Who were some of your biggest basketball influences growing up, whether it was guys ahead of you in the Australian basketball system or people you watched in the NBA?
Early on, it was definitely Nick Kay. He was from the same area as me. More recently, other guys I've watched are Andrew Bogut, Jock Landale, Nathan Jawai — even though I don't really play like him — and Tyrell Harrison. Any of the Aussie bigs, really.
In the NBA, I love to watch Lauri Markkanen. He's probably my favorite player that I try to model my game after and I like to see how he works.
How would you describe your style of play?
I play a gritty type of basketball where I'm willing to knock down threes and play defense. That's what I'm good at and that's why I'm here. I'm going to work hard. I don't play a flashy type of basketball, but I play a style that works.
What has your college basketball journey been like so far?
Coming over to the States was definitely a shock. I didn't get many in-person recruiting opportunities coming out of high school — it was mostly just phone calls — and it all happened pretty late. It really just came down to forming relationships over the phone, and Evansville did a great job with that. My coach at Evansville, Craig Snow, recruited me and I still love the coaching staff over there. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was just excited to be there.
Over the past three years, I've gotten to play against some great teams. We played at No. 1 Purdue last year, for example, plus Ohio State, Cincinnati and BYU during my freshman and sophomore years. Getting those experiences during the non-conference games was really important and helped me realize that was the level I wanted to get to. Now being here at USC, I can see that level of competition firsthand.
Knowing the Power 4 level was what I wanted to get to and getting the experience to play against some of those teams really gave me the drive for the rest of my training throughout my three years at Evansville.
What was it like playing Purdue in Mackey Arena, going up against the preseason No. 1 team with NBA-caliber players and ending up with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double? How much confidence did that give you moving forward?
I had confidence going into the game. Going forward, that game reassured me of the confidence I already had. I had a great offseason going into that game and I was ready to play. I said in one of the huddles, "I'm having fun, it's great to be here, let's do it.'
What's interesting, though, is I told my coaches that I wouldn't play like I did at Purdue if I didn't play Power 4 schools earlier in my career. I played awful at BYU and at Ohio State during my freshman and sophomore years, so I think having those experiences helped me know what to expect once I was a veteran on that team. I was the only guy on my team who had had those experiences against Power 4 schools, so I was ready to bring the other guys with me.
How has it been trying to establish chemistry with everybody this summer? What do you think the potential for this team is this year?
It's been easy to establish chemistry because we get after it every day, we're just getting better and we're having that shared adversity in practice. Summer practices form bonds because you're going through it with the guy next to you. We're in the locker room together joking around after whatever we've just done, then we're doing school and going to weights together. There's no getting out of it. That's what we're here to do: We're here to get better.
Right now in college basketball, teams are really valuing big men and having positional size in the frontcourt. What's it been like working with players like Jacob Cofie, Eric Reibe and the Ratliff twins in practice?
We're pretty stacked. Going at them every day, I try to just contribute any way I can. They're all great players and I'm a great player too. But we all have our niches and we're figuring out how we can make each other better every day. It was what I wanted when I came here. I wanted to be around guys who are going to push me every day. Earlier in my career, I didn't get that development from pushing myself against another guy that was also going to be in the starting lineup. Whether I see the results this year or further into my pro career, I know I'm going to get better.
What are some of the goals that you have personally and individually for the team this season?
I think making March Madness is one of the main goals we have as a team. There is no reason that we shouldn't make the tournament. I think we could be a force to be reckoned with.
Individually, this is my first time playing on a team that's this good. Learning the ropes and being a sponge around all these veteran coaches like Coach Muss, who has all the experience you could want in a coach, and Coach Brad. I've been trying to really look to these guys and see where they can take me. It's exciting to be in such a good place like this.
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
