USC Football

Former USC running back Reggie Bush released a statement Wednesday as the school's athletic department announced the end of his 10-year NCAA-mandated disassociation from the Trojans.

"I've dreamed of this day for 10-plus years, and I'm excited to come home!" Bush said.

Welcome home, @ReggieBush. pic.twitter.com/iUYRiyB7Px

— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) June 10, 2020

USC president Carol Folt made Bush's reunion with the school official in a letter to the two-time Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year.

"I am pleased to inform you that all restrictions and prohibitions on your involvement in our athletics program are officially removed and you will be afforded the privileges and courtesies extended to all Trojan football alumni," Folt wrote.

Trojans athletic director Mike Bohn also released a statement:

"When I was hired to represent the Trojan Family as the director of athletics, I committed to listening and learning before leading. Throughout this process, one of the consistent themes that emerged from my discussions was how much Reggie Bush means to our former players, USC alumni, and fans everywhere. I've enjoyed getting to know Reggie and so many of his teammates, and I'm pleased his disassociation has ended so that we can welcome him back to our family. I'm confident that Reggie will use his incredible platform and influential voice to support and empower all of our student-athletes."

Bush was one of the best college football players of his generation. He helped lead USC to back-to-back national championships in 2003 and 2004 before winning the 2005 Heisman Trophy, which he vacated and returned to the Heisman Trophy Trust in 2010 because of the improper benefits scandal.

USC's announcement noted the running back's status with the school doesn't change the NCAA's decision in the case, which included vacating records from 2004 and 2005, Bush's stats across those two years and the removal of his name from the Heisman's winner list.

NCAA ruling aside, Bush accounted for 4,470 yards from scrimmage, 2,081 return yards and 42 total touchdowns across 39 appearances in three years with the Trojans.

He last played professionally in 2016 and currently works as a football analyst for Fox Sports.

"I hope Bru dies."

That's what one man said when Horace McCoy Jr. answered the phone. Others found him on LinkedIn to threaten death to his son.

Shelby McCoy remembers being stopped at the supermarket. The dentist. High school games. Remembers receiving a Twitter direct message saying the NFL would never touch a headcase like her son and that she had raised a failure.

Alexa McCoy heard it at parties at her college. What the hell is your brother doing? Why would he ever do that?

In the aftermath of Bru McCoy's transfer from USC to Texas and then back to USC, all in the span of six months back in early 2019, he was called every name you can imagine. And no matter how much the 5-star receiver tried to not read the comments, he couldn't escape them. They found him. Hounded him. The internet was not some abstract place, something that shut off once he closed his laptop.

Bru McCoy is a clown.

Bru McCoy is weak as hell.

Bru McCoy is running from competition.

Bru McCoy won't pan out.

Bru McCoy is a pussy.

Bru McCoy should lose his eligibility for being such a flake.

Bru McCoy is an entitled cancer.

The more the name was sullied, the more the person didn't seem real. Strangers on social media forgot he was a human being. A teenager. Somebody's son. Somebody's brother. Somebody who had worked his entire life to play college football. He was just a body to them. A body that didn't go where they wanted it to.

"People dehumanized me," says Bru, now back at USC and planning to play for the Trojans as a redshirt freshman whenever college football resumes. "It's no excuse, but I was 18. I'm only 19 now. I don't think anyone at 18 really has it all figured out." He's chastised himself for his choice. He's contemplated how rushed he felt at the time, how calm he feels now. How confused he felt then, how motivated he feels now. Time, distance, perspective, made him feel like two different people.

"Arrogant 18-year-old me thought, 'I'll just go to Texas. SC didn't do me right.' It was arrogant of me," he says. "I made a rash mistake."

At the time he didn't want to talk about what happened. Made it a point not to. He didn't feel he needed to explain himself. To the media. To strangers. To 45-year-old men on Twitter he'd never met in states he'd never visited. To teenagers firing off insults about him late into the night on Instagram. He didn't owe anyone his pain, his story. He was still trying to figure it out.

"I didn't really have a sense of self-identity," he says.

So he didn't talk about it, remembering something his grandfather, Horace McCoy Sr., told him often, starting back when he was in ninth grade. Players were trying to rattle him then, get inside his head. "You have to be the quiet in the storm," Horace Sr. told him.

"There can be a whole storm raging around you. Your team is losing. Everyone is upset with you. But you have to be quiet. Quietness will get you to where you want to be."

'Quietness?' Bru thought, trying to make sense of the word.

"Getting upset doesn't get you to where you want to be," Horace Sr. continued. "When chaos is raging around you, that's when it's time to get quiet, to listen and to think."

"Just be the quiet in the storm," he said, smiling. "Quiet in the storm."

---

Every day, Bru bikes miles and miles up the steep hills of Palos Verdes, in Los Angeles County, where he lives with his family. Recently he completed a trip around the peninsula, about 22 miles, his calves burning, his back aching.

It's all he can control right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, unsure if there will be a season.

When he bikes, alone with his thoughts and the hills, he realizes he has gained something this past year so much more valuable than any game or accolade: He knows who he is now.

He trusts himself. He forgives himself. And he yearns to compete, to prove to those people who don't trust him and haven't forgiven him that he is still the player he was. That he is not a was. That he still, indeed, is—a 6'3", 220-pound two-way player who thrives off physicality, approaching every play with a defensive mindset.

He's already explained himself to two programs, to his family, to his friends. One of the hardest parts was facing himself. That self you can't avoid, can't lie to, when your head hits the pillow at night. 'Am I OK with who I am?' he'd ask himself. 'With the choices I've made? Am I the man I hope to be?'

"I have something to prove to myself," Bru says. "That it wasn't all for nothing. All this misery, the back-and-forth. That what I put myself through wasn't for nothing."

This past year, he's had to look through himself. See who he is without football. Without people fawning over him, as they did in high school, when he starred for powerhouse Mater Dei. What do I want out of my life? Am I happy?

He likes to read books, like the one currently on his nightstand next to his bed: The Mindful Athlete by George Mumford. The book talks about being present. Not worrying about the future. After reading, he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and a voice pops into his head.

Be the quiet in the storm.

---

As a child, Bru used to cuddle a USC football that his dad gave to him, squeezing it tightly underneath his covers. He wanted to be Reggie Bush, so he wore No. 5 his entire career. He'd watch Bush highlights before his Pop Warner games.

USC meant everything to him. Horace, who played football at Northern Illinois, coached him, and little Bru would ask for more and more drills.

He was ultracompetitive, just like his parents, especially Shelby, a 5'6" All-American volleyball player at Northern Illinois whose coach sometimes had to tell her to dial it back when she approached fun practice drills like they were matches. Bru was the same way. When Alexa was learning to ride a bike at age five, a three-year-old Bru asked for one too—needing to be better at riding than her. As soon as he got on, he zoomed off. Another time, riding a motorized four-wheel bike, he zoomed off so quickly that he banged straight into the house. "He had no fear," Horace says.

Once, as a 10-year-old, Bru was so ticked off that everyone in Palos Verdes called this kid on an opposing team "Touchdown Tommy" that he vowed to not let him score when they faced off. The boy didn't even get a yard. On the ride home, Horace looked back in the rearview mirror and caught Bru smiling wide: "Bet you won't call him Touchdown Tommy anymore."

When he was 12, Bru's team made it to the Pop Warner national championship. Right before the championship game, he went into the center of the huddle, looked every teammate in the eye and yelled: "Big-time players make big-time plays. Let's go!"

He had the size, the speed. "He was in eighth grade, and he was a Division I player to me," says Darryl Lance Johnson, who has coached dozens of Division I players in his 40-year career and coached Bru throughout his childhood.

Bru often played through pain. He shattered his ankle in sixth grade, and when Alexa ran out to the P.E. yard to see if he was OK, he kept assuring her everything was fine, even though his bone was sticking out. He played four games at Mater Dei with a broken hand. He broke his collarbone twice, rushing into the bathroom to cry the second time so no one would see. He feared his career was over.

He has always been tough. That's why his family calls him "Bruiser"—Bru for short (his real name is Horace III). As a baby, he was just a bruiser, bouncing around, learning to flip out of his crib at eight months. He walked by nine months, not needing to crawl. At three years old, he leapt up on stage at a local Hard Rock Cafe and started dancing.

He thought attending Mater Dei, instead of going to neighborhood Palos Verdes High School, was the best option to achieve his college football dreams. Shelby woke him up every day at 5 a.m., making him egg-and-cheese burritos or bacon-and-egg bagel sandwiches, and he'd be out of the door by 5:45 a.m., in time to lift weights in Orange County by 7 a.m. He'd attend class and practice for the rest of the day, having double responsibilities as a two-way player, not coming home until 9 at night. Sometimes he struggled to keep his eyes open while they drove home on the 405 because he was so exhausted.

Many assumed his life was easy. He was a 5-star, 247Sports' No. 9 overall player in the 2019 class. Nick Saban was FaceTiming him at school. But he felt distanced, different. Wasn't sure who really wanted to be his friend, for him; not for how much money he could make one day. And he had to play incredible every game, because everyone wanted to be The Guy Who Stopped Bru McCoy.

Bruce Rollinson, Mater Dei's coach, would notice how Bru straightened his arms when he'd make a mistake, could see the frustration rising in him. He'd have to tell him to relax. "I used to joke with him: 'Bru, are you this intense when you go to the bathroom?'" Rollinson says. Bru was always on his way somewhere. He took eight classes his senior year, all during the season (students regularly take six). "It was a huge load," says Arthur Aragon, his counselor at Mater Dei. "He literally had no life. Just football and academics."

Signing to USC was one of the best days of his life. But finding out, the day after he enrolled in classes, that Trojan offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was leaving to coach the Arizona Cardinals, was jarring. Suddenly everything felt thrown off track.

"I felt betrayed," Bru says.

---

Bru remembers asking Kingsbury numerous times at his home during the recruiting process if he was going to go to the NFL. The answer was always no. Kingsbury wasn't lying, technically; the offer wasn't made to him yet, but Bru couldn't shake feeling betrayed. "This was completely my fault, but I think that when I got to SC, I started taking things more personal than I should have," he says.

He says he felt very hurried to get to school, feeling, at the time, that USC intentionally rushed him to get to campus and begin his first class so that his eligibility clock would start—so that if he left, he would be classified as a transfer. That made him feel more betrayed.

Everything was moving so fast. One minute he was playing in the All-American Bowl. The next he was taking his physical on campus. He never got a break. Time to process. Then the strength staff left. Then there was speculation that coach Clay Helton could be fired.

It felt like everything was crumbling around him. He attended a family wedding, feeling confused as ever. "I was just sitting there, thinking, this string of events is just too eerie, [like it's] screaming: 'Get out! Get away!'" Even more eerie, he remembers the Texas staff asking him throughout the initial recruiting process, back when he was in high school: "What are you going to do when Kliff leaves? Look where you'd be if he leaves."

"I have to act. I have to do something," he thought. He wasn't sure if his judgment was clouded—if he had chosen this place just because it was steeped in childhood nostalgia. "Maybe this isn't the right place for me?"

He told his parents at the wedding he wanted to go to Texas. They were stunned. "I've never steered you wrong in my life," Bru remembers his dad telling him. "I'm not going to tell you what you're doing is right, because it's not. But I promise you I'll support you regardless."

Bru went with his gut, entering the transfer portal in late January 2019, but things didn't feel normal when he arrived at Texas. Something was just off. He performed well on the field during spring practice, made friends and really liked the coaching staff. But he felt sad inside. Just down.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time there," he says. "It was literally nothing to do with anything with Texas. Honestly, the thing that was wrong with Texas was that it wasn't USC.

"Hindsight is always 20/20. Had I known the things I know now, truthfully I would have never left USC and went to Texas. I just found myself finding value in the wrong things when I was making my decision."

He had put so much emphasis on one coach's departure. A coach he had never even been coached by. A coach he had pretty much a couple-week relationship with. A coach who had come to his games and had dinner with his family a few times but who, for the most part, didn't really know him. "I put so much into him leaving, for what? Or the strength staff leaving? OK, there's still a weight room."

He takes a breath. "Hindsight is always 20/20," he repeats, but he knows he can't go back. "I should have never cared. I don't fault [Kingsbury] one bit. I would have done the same thing, truthfully. That's a lot of money."

He had a choice: grit his teeth, push through it, just stay at Texas, and look back on his life and say although he went to Texas, he wanted to be at USC the whole time—or leave. He didn't think it was fair to Texas to stay there.

Like any 18-year-old, he couldn't have come to these realizations until he experienced them. Until he had put himself into a different environment, like so many other students who attend a school and change their mind and transfer.

But he wasn't other students. He was an athlete. He was a highly sought-after recruit who had been in the national spotlight since he was 14, never allowed to falter. He had been loved, then hated. The shift was sharp, swift but unsurprising. He had done something few young athletes do: chased his own happiness.

---

When Bru told his parents he wanted to go back to USC, he was sure of his decision. No matter how ridiculous it sounded. He felt that what he needed to do was more important than the potential backlash he knew he would receive.

His family didn't understand at first. Not until he explained why to them. They supported him, stepped aside. In late May 2019, Bru called USC and Texas, and handled it all himself. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. And, watching, Horace realized something about his son: "He isn't a boy anymore. He was a young man, and he was making adult decisions."

That's the hard part of growing up: realizing that your failures, your successes, your decisions and your second guesses, are yours. But Bru's were not just his. He had to learn and rethink and recalculate and mess up and grow in front of hundreds and thousands of people. People who thought that just because he could catch a football and might one day make millions doing so, they had a right to condemn him.

"I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders," Bru says. "Everybody has an opinion, and there was no being right."

No matter how much the family tried not to talk about football, it was there. Always there. Some people were understanding—kind, even. They knew how young he was, how much he tried to follow his gut. But others were not as understanding. And his parents couldn't defend him from the vitriol. Couldn't stop the comments, the posts.

It bothered all of them that people said he ran from competition—not only because Bru was arguably the best receiver at Texas, but also because he was leaving for USC, a place known for producing top-tier receivers. Comments that he was indecisive—a flippant kid with no respect for his word, though college coaches come and go as they please, making millions as they do—burned him too.

"For me to return to USC was probably one of the most difficult and decisive decisions I have made in my entire life—and probably the best one," he says. "I wasn't running from adversity. I put adversity in front of myself and ran right into it by double transferring."

Those criticizing him didn't know him. That he was more than his transfers, his skills on the field. He wants to go into real estate after his career is over. He's passionate about social justice, world issues and travel. He researches random topics and often pulls over when he sees a homeless person to give them money.

His family knew his character, and he would rely on them more. No matter what anyone said about him outside their home, he was supported when he was inside those walls. There was Alexa, who loved being the water girl at his Pop Warner games—handing out Gatorade bottles to all the players—and would cry when he lost. There was Ava, his younger sister, who battled him one-on-one on the basketball court, as he guarded her hard. There were aunts, uncles and his grandfathers, Horace Sr. and Tom Snyder, the latter of whom had to force little Bru inside to eat when all he wanted to do at age eight was dunk on a 4-foot rim ("He was always looking for his next challenge," Snyder says).

And there were his parents, who told him: "We love you. We don't care how many touchdowns you score. If you drop a pass, catch a pass, it doesn't matter. We're here for you, and football doesn't affect our relationship or our love."

That meant the world to Bru: to be loved, to be seen. He never really wanted fame. He used to feel uncomfortable in high school when his friends would shout "All-American!" when he'd walk by. His dad had to tell him to post his offers on social media. Bru thought it was silly, bragging about 35 offers when there were hardworking kids who had none. The day his dad told him he was a 5-star, he just replied, "So?" He didn't hold a press conference on signing day. He just signed the papers in his school's library and then called Helton and told him how proud he was to be a Trojan.

Bru thought of all the moments his mom would drag him out of his bed at sunrise, how she'd watch the sun come up; or how his dad would respond, "Because I told you so!" when Bru would ask why he had to do one more drill. They were the reason he was able to keep going.

"This is going to sound corny," Bru says, thinking of the moment he felt the most joy, "but it was when my parents told me they were proud of me, back in high school." No matter what anyone said about him as an offensive player, as a defensive player, he was still their son.

---

Going back to USC, in the summer of 2019, Bru had to confront his former teammates. It was incredibly awkward. Some were very welcoming, happy he had returned, he says, and others were not. They felt he had turned his back on them. "I can't blame them either way," he says.

His coaches were welcoming. They saw his competitiveness. "He's always trying to dominate," says Keary Colbert, wide receivers coach. "Bru has only one speed," says Graham Harrell, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "He only knows to go as hard as he can possibly go at all times."

But then something shook him. Again.

Bru had arrived at USC in good shape but began to feel beyond drained after every workout. Then he began sweating uncontrollably. After one workout, a trainer took his temperature. He had a 101-degree fever. The next couple of days: 102, 101, 101.

He didn't understand what was happening. At first, he was diagnosed with strep throat, but the fevers grew inconsistent. Then he started losing weight and couldn't sleep much. He would sweat so profusely in his sleep that he'd have to flip over his mattress each day.

He'd wake up at 6 a.m., walk to the training facility to get his temperature taken, find it was still over 100, walk back to his apartment and try to sleep on his stiff leather couch, sweating the rest of the day. "This went on for months," Bru says. "I thought I was going to die."

He was tested for lymphoma, autoimmune diseases. He had an enormous amount of blood drawn. He had heart scans, brain scans. He was in the hospital for three days, having to get IVs because he sweated so much he would begin to cramp. He didn't want to tell anyone about it. "I was embarrassed, honestly," Bru says. "I was increasingly reclusive."

Who could understand after all he had overcome, he was faced with this? And it was frustrating, not being able to answer when people asked him: What's wrong with you? He was sad. Truly sad. He just wanted to play, to shut everyone up about the transfers. But his body wouldn't allow him.

His antibodies were very high, which meant his body was fighting something. A doctor suggested it may have been a virus that was no longer present but still couldn't determine what he had. And, to make matters worse, he was missing football. "I was miserable," Bru says.

He didn't have enough physical strength to stand on the sideline for games, which was interpreted by some as his not being a team player. Another knock on his character. He had to quiet the noise in his head, try to accept his journey by practicing mindfulness. Be here, in the now. "I had to kind of come to terms with myself," he says. "'Why am I living life in such a hurry?'"

In October 2019, his illness finally began to subside. His fever finally went down. He slowed down, taking a redshirt and looking forward to a return for the 2020 season. He was ready to play again.

"I think Bru found his joy again," says Helton, who felt like he saw Bru finally take a breath. "I told him: 'Bru, I don't care if you ever play a snap again. I just want you to be happy.' And I think he found that joy of playing the game, being around the guys and finding himself."

---

A few weeks ago, Shelby found an old highlight tape of Bru reposted on Instagram. Then she did what she tries not to do: scrolled down to the comments. She found that her son had responded to a negative comment that read: "Bru is a nobody. He's a has-been. He's never going to be anything." She was furious, running up the stairs into his room.

"Bru! We talked about this, not answering people."

Bru handed her his phone. He was on FaceTime. "Hey, Mom, meet Mike, the guy who was making those comments.

"Uh…hi…" she said. "What in the hell?" she thought. Bru finished the call and explained to his mom that he DM'd the guy after reading his negative comment.

"How old are you?" Bru asked the guy.

"18."

"I'm 19," Bru said. "Do you play Call of Duty?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. Do you want to play?"

"Seriously? Is this really Bru?"

"Yeah, here's my number. Call me."

The kid called with his two friends. "No way! We're on the phone with Bru McCoy! We're playing Call of Duty!"

"Mom," Bru said. "Haters are really just haters on social media, but they're really fans that don't want to say they're fans. You just gotta make it personal."

She smiled. After all that people have said about her son, he still believes people can be good. Genuinely good.

They've all come to realize something: The people who comment are just people too.

---

In a lot of ways, Bru feels like he felt during freshman year of high school, when he didn't know what would happen, taking a leap of faith to attend Mater Dei. His stomach would rumble with excitement, with nerves, heading down the 405 each morning.

"I remember being this hungry," he says. "It's a familiar situation: I gotta prove myself." He feels happy. Genuinely happy. Content with who he is but not yet where he wants to be. So he bikes. More hills, more miles. More mindfulness. "I'm in a position where I really get to write the rest of my story."

When asked now to think of what he'd write, to try to define himself after all he's learned, he grows quiet. Really quiet. Quiet in the middle of the storm.

         

Mirin Fader is a staff writer for B/R Mag. She's written for the Orange County Register, espnW.com, SI.com and Slam. Her work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the Football Writers Association of America, the Los Angeles Press Club and the Best American Sports Writing series. Follow her on Twitter: @MirinFader.

Reggie Bush is expected to once again be associated with the USC Trojans as the university's 10-year disassociation period is nearing an end, according to ESPN's Kyle Bonagura on Tuesday night.

Bonagura further explained:

"The timing comes as a result of an NCAA Committee on Infractions rule, adopted in 2017, that limits any mandated disassociations between an individual and a school to no more than 10 years. Bush's disassociation —which came as part of sweeping sanctions that included a two-year postseason ban, 14 vacated victories (including the 2004 BCS national championship) and the loss of 30 scholarships—began on June 10, 2010."

The NCAA sanctioned USC for a lack of institutional control June 10, 2010, after finding Bush had received improper benefits. It was reported in October 2007 that Bush and his family were given up to $280,000 in benefits from sports marketer Lloyd Lake while the now-35-year-old starred at running back for the Trojans from 2003-05.

In September 2010, Bush voluntarily forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy as a result.

Bush opened up to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman last month about the sanctions, calling it "one of the worst feelings in the world."

"It felt like I died when I had to hear that there weren't gonna be scholarships for kids because of me or because of something connected to me," he said. "I'm still not over that. It's just something you learn to live with."

Bush returned to USC's Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time last September while working as a Fox broadcaster:

Welcome back, Reggie. Welcome, Urban. pic.twitter.com/4CkF1UWmUw

— Brady McCollough (@BradyMcCollough) September 20, 2019

Bush was selected second overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 NFL draft. He won Super Bowl XLIV with the Saints in February 2010. The California native played for New Orleans from 2006-10 before moving on to the Miami Dolphins (2011-12), Detroit Lions (2013-14), San Francisco 49ers (2015) and Buffalo Bills (2016).

Overall, Bush tallied 5,490 yards—including two 1,000-yard campaigns—and 36 touchdowns on 1,286 carries before announcing his retirement in December 2017.

Miller Moss from Bishop Alemany High School (Mission Hills, Calif.) announced his commitment to the USC Trojans on Monday:

https://twitter.com/millermoss7/status/1267561954312196096

The 4-star quarterback explained his decision in a first-person essay for Sports Illustrated's All-American vertical:

"I couldn't be happier with the decision that I've made. When I break down my decision, it comes down to two things. The first thing would be the more emotional feel that USC has to me. I grew up wearing Matt Barkley's jersey to the park, Mark Sanchez's jersey to the park. I could tell you where I was when Sam Darnold won the Rose Bowl and he threw that ball to Deontay Burnett over the middle. The idea that I have this opportunity to do the things that those guys have done is still surreal to me. It's still something that I haven't completely wrapped my head around. USC was my school growing up and obviously I'm an L.A. kid. It's hard, growing up in that area, to not be partial to USC. 

The second, and more important reason I chose SC, is the practical one. ... For me, I feel that USC is a program that belongs on the national stage, they belong in the top five. Yes they've struggled over the past two years, but I have 100% belief that the program will be a top 10 team next year and will be a top five team in America going forward."

Moss had narrowed down his schools to USC, UCLA, Alabama and LSU on April 16 after receiving 24 offers overall:

Tribute to my hero... Final 4 #RIP24#4sUp 🐻#RollTide🐘#FightOn✌🏼#GeauxTigers🐯

edit: @recruit247 pic.twitter.com/cuNU0YRqu2

— Miller Moss (@millermoss7) April 17, 2020

Moss told 247Sports' Greg Biggins that he likes USC head coach Clay Helton "a lot" and feels "really excited about this year's recruiting class."

247Sports ranks Moss as the fifth-best pro-style quarterback in the 2021 class as well as the seventh-best prospect out of California and 52nd-best nationally.

Biggins compared Moss to legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and it goes without saying how hard those expectations will be to reach should the 6'2", 197-pounder make it to the NFL.

First, Moss will be tasked with leading USC back to national relevance. The Trojans' 2021 class ranks fourth nationally with 4-star quarterback Jake Garcia also committed.

Kedon Slovis was USC's leading passer as a freshman last season with 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns and nine picks on 71.9 percent completion across 12 games. The Trojans finished 8-5, losing the Holiday Bowl 49-24 to Iowa.

USC revoked the season tickets and Trojan Athletic Fund membership of booster Marla Brown after a series of racist tweets regarding the current protests happening around the country, athletics director Mike Bohn announced Monday:

https://twitter.com/USC_mikebohn/status/1267503827801915394

Brown has since deleted her Twitter account, though screenshots of her tweets were posted online:

https://twitter.com/TheStolenBeer/status/1267093331449909248

https://twitter.com/TheStolenBeer/status/1267094169056677889

According to Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports, Brown clarified before deleting her Twitter account that she was no longer the Los Angeles Police Department union attorney and hadn't held the job for some time.

Former USC receiver and current Indianapolis Colts rookie Michael Pittman Jr. asked Brown to remove his picture from her Twitter profile before she deleted her account:

@SoCalMAB if you truly believe the things you have said, I politely ask you to take me out of your profile picture. This is disappointing, I know my true Trojan family would never. In times like this, it is important for us to stand together. https://t.co/CH5aVAwiTz

— MPJ (@MikePitt_Jr) June 1, 2020

According to Baer, Brown responded by tweeting that her "remarks were made in a fit of anger at circumstances in general. It was a stupid thing to say. And wasn't directed at anyone's race. Just upset at all the destruction."

The protests around the country were sparked in part by the death of George Floyd, who died after since-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. 

Protestors have taken to the streets in peaceful protest of the disproportionate brutality and killings the African American community face at the hands of police. Alongside those peaceful protests, there have also been some incidents of property destruction, theft and confrontations with police officers.

A 2017 ruling that led to the expulsion of former USC Trojans kicker Matt Boermeester following a Title IX investigation by the school into alleged domestic violence was reversed by the California Court of Appeals on Thursday, according to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. 

The ruling found that USC's findings in its investigation "were unfair because they denied Boermeester a meaningful opportunity to cross-examine critical witnesses at an in-person hearing." Boermeester sued the school following his expulsion.

As you may remember, Education Secretary Betsy Devos cited Boermeester’s case as evidence of “a failed system”. This month, she instituted new rules for universities that offer the accused a chance to cross-examine — just as the court ruled for Boermeester.

— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) May 29, 2020

The court also wrote that USC's investigation "prevented Boermeester from fully presenting his defense, which was that the eyewitnesses misunderstood what happened between him and [his girlfriend] on Jan. 21, 2017."

Boermeester will now be given the chance to cross-examine witnesses at the superior court. 

USC expelled Boermeester in 2017 after two USC students said they saw him push his girlfriend, Zoe Katz, against the wall and put his hands around her neck. Boermeester had argued that the pair were simply "horsing around."

According to Kartje, Katz initially confirmed that accounting of events when she was questioned by investigators, though she later said the statement she made to the school was "misrepresented, misquoted, and taken out of context."

"I made it very clear to USC that I have never been abused, assaulted or otherwise mistreated by Matthew Boermeester; not on Jan. 21, 2017, and not ever," she added.

Boermeester spent two seasons with USC's football program (2015-16), appearing in 17 games. 

It is uncertain how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the college football season. Will the season start on time? Will fans be permitted in the stands? Will the season need to be halted at some point because of another outbreak of the coronavirus? 

That has schools and conferences putting contingency plans in place. And USC head coach Clay Helton said one of the contingencies being discussed was the Pac-12 having teams play an 11-game, conference-only schedule in 2020:

USC coach Clay Helton said an 11-game conference-only schedule has been discussed in Pac-12 meetings. "That’s been one of the many structures of our discussion depending on where we are 6-8 weeks from now."

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 11, 2020

That raises its own questions. Would the Pac-12 bother with a conference championship game in such a scenario? And if some conferences play this season and others don't—or don't play a full season—how will that affect the College Football Playoff?

Stanford head coach David Shaw was asked about that scenario:

Asked what a legitimate playoff is if only half the conferences are playing, David Shaw said today: "That's the question isn't it?"

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) May 11, 2020

David Shaw said if it just goes to conference play, how do you compare conference for a CFP Playoff — says you'd likely have to expand just to get teams in. But nobody knows how this will look.

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) May 11, 2020

"There's a spirit of cooperation when it comes to college football in particular, a strong bias toward making sure we do this together," Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told Andy Staples and Stewart Mandel of The Athletic. "We're all members of the College Football Playoff, and if we're going to have a Playoff at the end of the season, we need to have uniformity on how we have a season."

Going away from non-conference games would take some major matchups off the table. USC is scheduled to play Alabama and Notre Dame, for instance, two highlights from the Pac-12's non-conference slate. Other lost games would include Oregon vs. Ohio State, Washington vs. Michigan, Utah vs. BYU, California vs. TCU, Oregon State vs. Oklahoma State and Colorado vs. Texas A&M. 

Another uncertainty is how the different schools and conferences might differ in their approaches going forward amid the COVID-19 pandemic, or whether games will occur at all.

"Decisions about fans [attending are] really going to be made by public health officials," Scott said. "Decisions whether to play or not play are going to be made by universities, conferences and the NCAA. Those are two very different types of decisions."

USC quarterback JT Daniels has entered the transfer portal, per an official statement from Trojans head coach Clay Helton:

USC QB JT Daniels has put his name in the transfer portal.

Here is @USCCoachHelton’s statement: pic.twitter.com/yCl2hnK6Kj

— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) April 16, 2020

According to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, Daniels is looking to become immediately eligible as part of a one-time transfer exception from the NCAA. He could still return to USC if he is forced to sit out a year.

Daniels earned the starting job as a freshman in 2018, but his 2019 campaign was cut short after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first game.

He totaled 2,887 passing yards and 15 touchdowns with 11 interceptions in 12 total games with the Trojans. 

Kedon Slovis took over as USC's starting quarterback after Daniels' injury this season and thrived with 30 touchdowns and 3,502 passing yards in 12 games as a freshman.

There was early speculation in December that Daniels could transfer with a starting job no longer secure, but his father, Steve Daniels, said that wasn't going to happen.

"JT is definitely staying," he told Greg Biggins of 247Sports. "... He's a very competitive kid and has never run from a challenge before. Kedon played really well and JT was happy for him but at the same time, JT is a competitor and once he's back to 100%, he wants to compete for that job."

However, it now appears the young quarterback wants to examine his opportunities outside of USC.

Daniels was a highly regarded recruit entering college as the No. 16 overall player in the 2018 class and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback behind only Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, per 247Sports. 

His availability could generate a lot of interest across college football.

The University of Southern California picked up a big commitment on Saturday night as running back Brandon Campbell announced he was signing with the Trojans as part of their 2021 class. 

Campbell is rated a 4-star recruit and the No. 22 tailback in the country by 247Sports. He picked USC over Alabama, Ohio State, LSU and Baylor, among others.  

Blessed To Be In The Position I’m In..

No Turning Back, I’m All In Till It’s Over

C O M M I T T E D‼️🦍#RunBC
🎥: @MillGraphics pic.twitter.com/Y7zWEbyxzE

— Brandon (BC) Campbell (@2021BC) March 29, 2020

At 5'10", 190 pounds, the Katy, Texas, native has a smaller frame that should fill out as he continues to develop. 247Sports clocked him at 4.58 seconds while running the 40-yard dash, with analyst Gabe Brooks calling him a "bona fide Power Five starter":

"Typical running back build with above average bulk relative to average height. Not the frame of a big back but enough space to get to 200-plus with relative ease. Athletic playmaker with impressive verified speed and agility (4.58 40, 4.07 shuttle). Shows good burst when he decides to plant and go. Limited pass-catching opportunities out of the backfield have been encouraging, particularly downfield. Shows enough close-quarters wiggle to make a defender miss. A bit hesitant at times. Can become a more decisive runner and set up blocks better."

Brooks also noted that Campbell is one of the more highly touted backs in a Texas pool that's currently teeming with talent. 

Campbell's junior year numbers seem to back up that notion as well. In 2019, he carried the ball 116 times for 883 yards and 19 touchdowns while hauling in 13 receptions for 274 yards and three scores. 

For a Trojans team coming off an 8-5 season (7-2 in Pac-12), Campbell's signing represents progress under head coach Clay Helton. 

In 247Sports' class of 2021 rankings, USC now has the 13th-best recruiting class in Division I and ranks second in the Pac-12. A sizable portion of that is due to 5-star quarterback Jake Garcia and 4-star linebacker Ma'a Gaoteote, but Campbell's commitment certainly helped. 

As Helton looks to fill out his next class, he can point to a solid pipeline of players already gearing up to take the field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 

When Pete Carroll took over at USC in 2001, the program, which had won nine national championships in its history, was on the brink of national irrelevancy. Years of poor talent evaluation and even worse coaching had made one of the biggest brand names in college football a national punchline. 

The Trojans' hiring of Carroll, who had been coaching in the NFL for the previous 17 years and whose last collegiate role was as the defensive coordinator at Pacific, was widely mocked as a disaster waiting to happen, especially when it came to recruiting.

Those questions were answered quickly as he signed a top-10 class in 2002 and top-two classes in 2003 and 2004. He started a streak of acquiring blue-chip talent that carried nearly two decades, ending last season when Clay Helton became the first USC head coach this millennium not to sign a five-star prospect in a given recruiting class. And barring a major National Signing Day surprise, it'll happen again in 2020. 

Of 247Sports' 31 five-star prospects in this class, 30 are committed or already signed and on campus at their new school. The lone remaining holdout, running back Zachary Evans, is expected to choose between Ole Miss—the new home of former USC head coach Lane Kiffin—Tennessee, and Texas A&M. 

The Trojans, who dealt all season with speculation Helton could be fired, have suffered on the recruiting trail as a result. Their 2020 class ranks 51st nationally and 10th in the Pac-12, ahead of only Washington State, who lost head coach Mike Leach to Mississippi State, and Arizona.

To add insult to injury, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported Sunday that Helton fired three defensive coaches just a week after hiring a new defensive coordinator. Amid that turmoil, it's almost impossible to see the Trojans making up much ground on the recruiting trail this late. 

Here, we've broken down USC's top remaining 2020 targets and added our predictions of where they end up. 

              

Princely Umanmielen

Count the Trojans out here. The four-star defensive lineman tweeted at the weekend that he'll decide between Texas, Baylor, Florida and Auburn on National Signing Day: 

Top 4 Texas, Florida , Baylor, Auburn

National signing day announcement
🗓 — Feb 5th
📍 — Manor senior Highschool gym
⏰ — starts 2:20pm
📺 — Tune in on ESPN U & ESPN 2 2:20 (CT)

— Princely Umanmielen (@d1princely) February 2, 2020

Prediction: Umanmielen stays in Texas, but chooses the Bears. 

          

Michael Drennen II

Drennen just squeaked inside 247's most recent Top 247 rankings, and he's had a who's who of suitors over the past year. Kentucky and USC seem to be the two front-runners, though.

Helton recently did an in-home visit with Drennen, according to 247's Bill Greene. But Kentucky answered a big question for the player by retaining assistant coach Vince Marrow, so the Trojans might have a fight on their hands. 

Prediction: Drennen opts to stay closer to home and chooses the Wildcats. 

          

Elijah Turner

The three-star running back from Buford, Georgia, officially visited a week ago and came away very impressed, according to Ryan Young of TrojanSports.com.

In many ways, Turner's recruitment lies solely on whether Drennen opts for Kentucky or USC. 

"Coach is going up to Ohio [to] check on him and see if he's still interested in USC, and if not the spot will be mine," Turner told Young. "If they call and say I have the offer I'm taking it right then. I can't let an opportunity like that be wasted."

USC official visit #FightOn ✌🏾@USC_FB pic.twitter.com/6YifExR8xz

— Elijah Turner (@iamelijahturner) January 28, 2020

Prediction: With Drennen headed to Kentucky, Turner becomes a Trojan.

            

Rankings taken from 247Sports.com. Follow Keegan on Twitter @ByKeeganPope.