Southern California's Katin Reinhardt is transfering to Marquette for his senior season. Credit: Associated Press

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Katin Reinhardt, a graduate transfer from USC, has committed to continue his college basketball career at Marquette, a source told the Journal Sentinel Saturday night and Reinhardt later confirmed.

"I really believe in what coach (Steve Wojciechowski) has at that program right now and the tradition there and the basketball culture and just everything about it is just fantastic," Reinhardt told the Journal Sentinel.

"Coach Stan Johnson, the assistant coach, has been recruiting me since I think my freshman year of high school. My freshman year of high school he offered me my first scholarship, so I've known him for a while. ... I'm really excited about the fans out there, too. I know basketball culture is huge and the fan base for Marquette is amazing, the student section. I'm just excited to see that whole process and have those people behind us this year."

A 6-foot-6 guard who has the size to play multiple positions, Reinhardt can transfer and play immediately after he graduates and is accepted into a master's program. He is on track to earn his bachelor's degree in sociology at USC and is deciding between continuing with sociology or switching to communications for his graduate work at Marquette.

As of Thursday, ESPN.com listed Reinhardt as the fifth-best transfer available regardless of class. He played two seasons at USC after transferring from UNLV following his freshman campaign in 2012-'13. In his two seasons at USC, Reinhardt averaged 11.9 points per game while shooting 40.9%, including 37.9% from three-point range.

Reinhardt will join a guard-heavy roster at Marquette. With his size, he may be asked to play a variety of roles, something he is comfortable doing.

"Me and Coach Wojo have talked and he wants to put me in the best position to succeed," Reinhardt said. "I know my defense has gotten a lot better over the last few years of college. I want to be a guy who can guard every position that needs to be guarded and do a good job at that.

"Offensively being able to make plays with the ball in my hands, I know they're comfortable with me doing that as well as scoring off the ball and making plays off the ball, too. Definitely going to be utilized in a multitude of different ways, but that's how I like it. I'm excited to just be a basketball player and win a lot of games this year."

With freshman forward Henry Ellenson leaving for the NBA draft and high school guard Markus Howard committed and expected to officially sign with Marquette when the spring signing period opens Wednesday, the addition of Reinhardt would bring the Golden Eagles to 13 filled scholarships for next season, the maximum allowed by the NCAA.

Should Marquette's roster remain unchanged heading into next season, the Golden Eagles will take on a vastly different style of play in 2016-'17. Rising senior Luke Fischer and rising sophomore Matt Heldt would be the team's only true post players. Next year's four new additions — Reinhardt, Howard, incoming freshman Sam Hauser and junior transfer Andrew Rowsey — are all highly-regarded three-point shooters that complement Marquette's heavy crop of returning guards.

In that configuration, players like Jajuan Johnson, Sandy Cohen III, Wally Ellenson or Sacar Anim would likely play the power forward position, stretching the court and bringing versatility to a smaller Marquette lineup in the process. The Golden Eagles used that strategy at times this past season when resting Henry Ellenson or Fischer as well as down the stretch of their March 1 win over Georgetown when Henry Ellenson suffered a sprained left ankle in the second half.

"There's going to be a lot of guys that can make plays," Reinhardt said. "We're going to leave that up to Coach in terms of what he has lineup-wise and what is going on there. Hopefully everybody's going to be on board to really do something special and be a very good team in the Big East next year and even in the nation. Coach Wojo can coach, man. He knows his stuff, he's very smart and educated and he's going to put everyone in the right position to succeed."

Reinhardt will visit Marquette next weekend and hopes to start building strong relationships with his new teammates and the rest of the program's staff. He'll have something to talk about with Wally Ellenson right off the bat, as part of Reinhardt's Twitter announcement about his decision included a picture of him wearing a Marquette jersey with Ellenson's No. 22 on the front.

"Somebody just made an edit for me and that was the jersey they put on there," Reinhardt said. "I don't know if someone is 22 there right now or not, but there was no intention of taking anyone's number or anything. ... Whatever number's open I'll take."