What role will Bennie Boatwright play at USC?

Andy Enfield is having a nice year in his first full offseason at USC. After 4-star 2015 forward Chimezie Metu committed in May, Enfield scored another 4-star forward when Bennie Boatwright committed last week. I took a further look at Boatwright's film and what exactly he will be bringing to the table for the Trojans.

For starters, it absolutely is not a stretch to call Boatwright the best commit Andy Enfield has secured in his short USC tenure. Though 247Sports has both Boatwright and Metu as 4-star players, Boatwright is #54 in their national rankings while Metu is #76.

After watching film, I struggled initially to find a comparison to Boatwright. Most players who are 6-foot-9 camp out in the low post and live off the pick and roll. Boatwright, however, is entirely opposite of this mentality. He is a great ballhandler for someone of his size, and can create his own shot (usually from long-range). His size and shooting form also makes it easy for him to shoot the three with a defender covering him, as you'll see in the video below. If I had to pick a player to compare him to, it would probably be former Cal player and current New Orleans Pelican, Ryan Anderson. They both are big men that rely on the three before trying to score from the low post.

Boatwright also is a very good rebounder, as you would expect from someone of his height. He averaged 9.6 rebounds per game last season for Village Christian High School in California. This should help the Trojans, who have finished in the bottom three in rebounding among Pac-12 teams the past three seasons, assuming that trend continues this year.

USC's top 3 returning scorers from last season, Pe'Shon Howard, J.T. Terrell, and Omar Oraby are all set to graduate following the 2014-2015 season, so I see no reason Bennie Boatwright should not be starting from the beginning of 2015, considering he can help replace some of their scoring.

All in all, I think Boatwright will be a step in the right direction in helping Enfield and the Trojans in getting back to the school's first NCAA Tournament since 2011. It might still take a couple more seasons, but if Enfield continues to get big recruits, it could be as soon as 2016.