At one point in his career, the 6-foot-10 star was behind only the 9th overall pick of the 2024 draft. Josh Cohen had 12.1 points per game from the post, while Zach Edey led the 2022-23 Division I with 13.1 points. At the time, there were only two players to do so. Hailing from New Jersey, Cohen had already scored more than 1600 points before coming to the Trojans.

Some of his notable contributions were five games in which he had 10 or more rebounds. During 2023-204, the 23-year-old also featured in the 20-man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List for the nation’s top big man. But did you know that before coming to USC, he had already committed to Arkansas but flipped it for the Trojans? So, let’s look at this year until his current year with USC.

More about Josh Cohen

After spending the last seasons with UMass and the previous three seasons at Saint Francis, Cohen made a name for himself. With 1626 points, 494 during his one-year stint, and 1,132 during the three years. A strong presence in the paint and can easily rebound at a high rate. He became the first player to announce for USC under a new head coach.

Yes, coach Eric Musselman was the one who convinced Josh Cohen to commit to Arkansas. So when the coach arrived in Los Angeles, the player soon followed. In April, when longtime coach Andy Enfield left after 11 seasons, Musselman arrived. During his 5 years at Arkansas, he went 111-59 with three NCAA tournament appearances. Advancing to the Elite Eight twice and the Sweet 16 the other season.

On April 5th, Cohen also made his intentions clear: “I believe in @EricPMusselman. Let’s work 💪🏻.” He confirmed his commitment to USC on social media with multiple tweets.

Before committing to USC and Arkansas, Cohen led them in scoring with his 15.9 points per game average and effortlessly added 6.8 rebounds per game. Because of this, Jack Cohen was eighth and fifth in scoring and rebounding categories, respectively, among A-10 players. “I really didn’t know this until two days ago,” Cohen said of his commitment. “I wanted to go on all these visits; I wanted to see the schools, but I had already seen the school I wanted to be at. It just became an easy decision.” He chose UMass over Penn State, Florida, and Iowa.

This is part of the All-Atlantic 10 and NABC All-District second team. 24 times, he would score in double figures and add to that 11 games where he had 20 or more points. The forward also had back-to-back games of 28 points at the Diamond Head Classic, where he earned the All-Tournament team honor. He also shot 54.4% from the field, including 11 of 32 (34.4%) beyond the arc.

Cohen’s career before UMass and USC

With such numbers, one can point out that the #33 of USC is crafty around the basket. He also possesses plenty of post-move to cause damage to the paint. Before committing to St. Francis High School, he was a 2019 graduate of Christian Brothers Academy. As a senior, he ended his season with 21 points per game. That year too, he scored 20 or more points in 14 of 24 games, earning an All-Shore Conference first-team selection. Even in Christian Brothers Academy, he scored more than 1000 points, just like his three seasons with Saint Francis.

Josh Cohen did red-shirt his first season, but in 2020-21 he contributed in 21 games. Although not at the levels that he had shown previously, his scoring average and rebounds average were 5.7 and 4.6 per game. But his scoring was back to double digits in the next season. In his final season, his career-best scoring average was 21.8 points with 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 dimes per game. His FG% was 58.5% and was first among NorthEast Conference leaders. That season, he also led the NEC in effective FG% (58.5%), total points (676), and player efficiency rating (30.5%).

He had a team-leading 77 assists in 31 games and earned NEC Co-Player of the Year and NABC All-District 15 First-Team selection. Scoring a career-high 40 points twice, a 30-point performance with 9 rebounds, and a double-double with a season-best 14 rebounds and scoring 28 points. All this was in December last year. Because of this, he also earned the NEC Most Improved Player.

This season in 2 games, he has averaged 11.5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 58.8 FG%. In the first game against Chattanooga, he featured for only 15 minutes and contributed with 4 points, 40% FG, and 4 rebounds. In the second game, the minutes doubled, and his contribution against Idaho State was 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a whopping 66.7 FG%. Will he be able to keep up his form in the last season before the draft? As per The Athletic, currently, he is not on the shortlist, but even one season can surely change things around.