Usc Players

UCLA and USC players projected to be selected in rounds 2-7 of the NFL draft (April 28-30): UCLA RAHIM MOORE, safety: Best free safety in this draft class. Good range, but needs to get stronger. Projected round: 2. DAVID CARTER, defensive tackle: Performance at the Shrine Game bumped up his stock after a poor season. Projected: 6. KAI FORBATH, kicker: Booted 85 field goals, tying him for first in school history with John Lee. Projected: 6-7. RYAN TAYLOR, center: Showed good versatility, moving to center after playing guard as a junior.

Nick Perry arrived in New York on Tuesday, one of 26 players invited by the NFL to take part in activities leading up to Thursday's opening round of the draft. The former USC defensive end will meet Commissioner Roger Goodell, visit a children's hospital and the New York Stock Exchange and appear on a morning television show before the prime-time announcement of first-round selections. Perry knows there will be excitement — but also possibly heartache — in the green room at Radio City Music Hall as players wait for their names to be called.

The USC players woke up still sore in their downtown San Francisco hotel last Friday, one day removed from beating California in Berkeley. Then they heard the best news anyone in that position can hear: Go back to bed; you have the day off. USC Coach Kevin O'Neill rested his players specifically because they had been struggling on Saturdays, their 15-12 overall record marred by seven losses this season on that day. The Trojans typically...

The return of every starting linebacker and defensive back already figured to make USC's back seven formidable this season. The Trojans got potentially stronger Thursday when the NCAA granted Josh Shaw's hardship waiver, making the Florida transfer immediately eligible. "This is like the happiest day of my life," said Shaw, a third-year sophomore defensive back. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Shaw played in 10 games at Florida last season, starting once. Florida granted the Palmdale High graduate his release to transfer because of his grandfather's and father's health issues, and he enrolled at USC in January.

As USC receiver Mike Williams pondered whether to return for another season or turn pro, Trojan teammates and coaches played the waiting game along with anxious fans on Saturday. "I talked to him just for a short time and he told me he hadn't made a decision yet," quarterback Matt Leinart said. "I want him to stay, and we need him to stay. But he has a lot to think about."

USC receiver Dwayne Jarrett has a knack for being in the right place at the right time on the field. But on Tuesday morning, a day after players moved out of a campus dormitory and into apartments, the All-American was in the wrong place, or rather the wrong car. Jarrett and offensive lineman Thomas Herring were handcuffed briefly on campus after several Los Angeles Police Department vehicles descended upon a car they were in.

The USC football players who as a joke participated in a "White Nation" Internet group do not face disciplinary action, even though a top university administrator said in a statement Friday that they "demonstrated very poor judgment and insensitivity toward others." Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president of student affairs, said: "While the group was evidently created as an offshoot to joking between races among teammates at USC, this joke was clearly taken to an improper length. ...

Three USC football players expressed disappointment Wednesday that their coach, Ted Tollner, will no longer be with them after the Florida Citrus Bowl game with Auburn Jan. 1. They also reaffirmed their support and admiration for Tollner. Quarterback Rodney Peete, strong safety Tim McDonald and outside linebacker Marcus Cotton attended a meeting at which Tollner and Athletic Director Mike McGee addressed the team.

In an emotional ending to a nearly yearlong ordeal, three USC football players were found not guilty of misdemeanor charges that they had dragged a female graduate student into a dormitory room and sexually assaulted her. The verdict, announced Friday in Los Angeles Municipal Court, was greeted with hugs and cheers by family and friends of defendants Michael Jones, Willie McGinest and Jason Oliver.

Forgive USC's players if they're thinking they already did this once. After beating Notre Dame in overtime last season to put speculation about Coach John Robinson's job to rest, they go into South Bend, Ind., this weekend knowing Robinson has pledged to resign if they don't turn the season around. "It is ironic," cornerback Brian Kelly said. "We've pretty much been there, and we came out with a win last year. Now we're looking for the same thing."

The Pac-12Conference announced its all-conference, all-freshman and all-defensive teams Tuesday and no USC players were among the honorees . USC finished 1-17 in conference play and enters this week's Pac-12 tournament with a 6-25 record. "If you don't win, you don't get anything," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said. "That's just the way it is. " Awards and all-conference teams are chosen through a vote of league coaches, who cannot vote for their own players. O'Neill said he thought sophomore guard Maurice Jones and Byron Wesley were worthy of recognition.

USC receiver Marqise Lee and running back D.J. Morgan are accustomed to catching passes. Trojans defensive backs Nickell Robey and Tony Burnett have been trained to knock them down. On Saturday, the quartet will make passes — by handing off a baton — when they compete together in the 400-meter relay in the USC track team's season-opening outdoor competition at the Claremont Relays. It's the first time since the early 2000s that USC football players have migrated en masse to the track, restoring a tradition that once helped the Trojans win multiple conference championships in the spring sport.

Two players from USC and three from UCLA are among those who will try to catch the eye of pro football scouts Saturday when they participate in the inaugural AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate All-Star game. The question: Will any NFL teams be watching? Not in person at the Home Depot Center. The NFL forbids scouts from attending college all-star games and practices that include underclassmen, league spokesman Greg Aiello said. Miami of¿fensive lineman Brandon Washington and Syracuse safety Phillip Thomas are the only juniors participat¿ing in the game.

Tom Barrack, a former USC rugby player who launched a real estate fund that has expanded into international sports and entertainment investments, is interested in pursuing the Dodgers. Barrack heads Colony Capital, a Santa Monica firm that controls $34 billion in assets, according to Forbes. Barrack's interest was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment. Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Barrack, declined to comment. The Dodgers reached a legal settlement with Fox Sports on Tuesday night, all but ending months of courtroom battles over the future of the team and setting the stage for a bidding war so spirited that outgoing owner Frank McCourt believes he might fetch double the previous record price for a Major League Baseball franchise.

USC receiver Marqise Lee and linebacker Dion Bailey were selected as Pac-12 Conference offensive and defensive freshmen of the year, the league announced Monday. The Trojans were not eligible to win the conference title, but USC had more players voted to the all-conference team than any other school. Receiver Robert Woods, the only player in the conference to appear on every coach's first team, was one of seven USC players voted to the top squad. Others were junior offensive tackle Matt Kalil, junior defensive end Nick Perry, junior safety T.J. McDonald, sophomore cornerback Nickell Robey, freshman kicker Andre Heidari and senior fullback/special-teams player Rhett Ellison.

In USC's season opener, Maurice Jones scored half of his 16 points in the final four minutes. In its second game, the Trojans' sophomore guard scored all but two of his 18 points after halftime. USC Coach Kevin O'Neill is happy "MoJo" is taking over games on the offensive end. But he'd be happier if Jones didn't wait so late to do it. "He's got to be more aggressive early in games," O'Neill said. USC (1-1) plays its first road game of the season Thursday at San Diego State (3-1)

USC players were off Thursday, but work continues seemingly nonstop on the new $70-million John McKay Center, which is rising on campus across the street from Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field. Workers broke ground on the 110,000-square-foot, three-level building in January and construction is on schedule to be finished by midsummer. Coach Lane Kiffin charts the building's progress every morning when he makes the short trek from Heritage Hall to the practice field. "The crews working over there amaze me," Kiffin said.

This time the dark clouds were real, not symbolic. Lane Kiffin has talked all season about the shadow hanging over USC's program because of NCAA sanctions and how the Trojans were on the verge of breaking through to a bright future. On Saturday, under a sky that threatened but never dumped rain, the No. 18 Trojans moved another step closer. With a dominating defensive performance and big plays from special teams, USC routed Washington, 40-17, at the Coliseum. "Just keep trying to move those clouds away," Kiffin said.

USC had the worst home attendance of any Pac-12 Conference basketball team last season. On average, about 4,691 fans populated the 10,258-seat Galen Center, a capacity rate of 45.7%. But if guard Maurice Jones suffers an injury and has to sit out at any point, USC Coach Kevin O'Neill issued the following warning to those few who might contemplate showing up: "Don't come to the games; it will be ugly. " He was kidding … probably. USC opens its season Friday at home against Cal State Northridge with Jones as its only returning starter.