Dennis Rodman’s son, DJ, looks extremely dumb after making bold comments prior to the start of his final season of college basketball that came back to haunt him. The 22-year-old small forward was really forced to eat his words earlier this week.
Rodman, a former two-star recruit, began his career with four years at Washington State. He earned a starting role for this first time as a senior and averaged 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 31.5 minutes per game for the Cougars last season. It was a breakout year.
The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder chose to use his COVID year and return to college for a fifth season. Just not with the school that recruited him. Rodman entered the transfer portal and landed at USC as a graduate transfer.
His decision marked the second NBA last name on the roster with Bronny James already committed. There was a lot of hype around what the Trojans might be able to with its star-studded lineup, led by Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier. Rodman and James were two nice additions to the rotation.
However, they have crashed and burned. USC is going to finish below .500 in the regular season and, barring a very unlikely Pac-12 Tournament title, will miss out on March Madness all together.
Meanwhile, No. 19-ranked Washington State is locked into an NCAA Tournament bid. Rodman’s former program has 22 wins through 29 games, which is rather embarrassing.
He made some very explosive comments prior to the season about how he was “tired of losing” and dissed the Cougars.
I mean, no disrespect to Washington State where I came from. That’s a rebuilding program, and I wanted to spend my last year and win.
— D.J. Rodman in September
Oops! Awkward!
The Trojans are going to finish as one of the three worst teams in the Pac-12, if not dead last. Meanwhile, the program that Rodman left behind and ridiculed is going to finish no worse than third in the conference. To make matters worse, Washington State beat USC in both of their games.