After watching the Trojans and the Bruins this past weekend, can someone please remind me why Los Angeles “needed” two mediocre NFL franchises? Brian Lipson Beverly Hills :: Well, if you are too young to have seen the legendary 1963 Rose Bowl, chin up; you just saw a game about as good there. Andrew...
Each week, the Los Angeles Times' college football experts — it's how they refer to themselves — will make choices on a variety of games. Warning: If they could accurately predict results, they wouldn't be reporters or editors. Their picks: Ben Bolch Louisville at North Carolina: Louisville, 38-28...
Joseph Lewis IV stands at 6 feet 2 and weighs 220 pounds. He was, according to some recruiting services, a five-star recruit in the latest cycle, considered one of the best receivers in the country. During Tuesday’s practice, Lewis performed as well as he has since arriving at USC. He caught balls...
There had already been two scuffles during USC’s Tuesday evening practice by the time cornerback Jack Jones tangled with receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe, Imatorbhebhe’s helmet dislodged and the pugilists wrestled to the turf. Coach Clay Helton paused practice and huddled the team together. USC’s preparation...
At least one thing is certain as we head into the second full weekend of college football: Pac-12 Conference teams won’t go undefeated. Someone has to lose in Saturday’s showdown between No. 6 USC and No. 14 Stanford, precluding a repeat of last week’s 11-0 performance that began with Utah defeating...
Tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have steered their children away from the game that made them famous, but that didn’t stop their eldest, 15-year-old son Jaden, from becoming a terrific athlete. He just chose to use his hand-eye coordination to strike a different ball. Instead of a racket,...
Michigan waited many weeks for Ty Isaac to become a player. One week into the season, he took care of that. He ran for 114 yards on 11 carries Saturday in No. 11 Michigan's 33-17 season-opening victory over Florida. “He had a terrific game,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He's going to be our...
Underneath the Coliseum, linebacker Cameron Smith watched his USC teammates flail against Western Michigan via a television in the locker room and tried not to stew. “There's no reason to get negative,” he said. “It just ruins the whole mood.” It was probably difficult. As Smith, the captain of...
USC coach Clay Helton cut right to the chase during his weekly teleconference after USC’s less-than-emphatic 49-31 win over Western Michigan. “Know there's going to be questions about Sam,” Helton said. He was right. Sam Darnold, the Trojans’ star quarterback, had the first less-than-stellar outing...
USC won its opener but left unanswered major questions heading into a crucial Pac-12 Conference game against Stanford on Saturday. What’s the foremost concern? Bill Plaschke and Zach Helfand break it down on the USC Overtime postgame podcast call-in show. Then it’s time for your calls on the USC...
Want to hear a joke? Here’s one from inside USC’s locker room minutes after the Trojans escaped with a 49-31 win over Western Michigan in an opening game that was scarier than the final score showed. “Are we even anywhere near a finished product?” coach Clay Helton said. The team burst out laughing....
Jake Olson will never behold his perfect snap, the wondrous kick, that glorious final point of USC’s opening-day victory. But he felt it in the hugs, heard it in the roars and basked in its triumph as he trotted from the Coliseum field into the arms of his Trojans teammates. Turns out, USC’s blind...
USC didn’t need to generate much offense other than on the ground Saturday — except on one crucial third down when it faced third and 17. Western Michigan had just scored on a double-pass. USC was losing. Its offense was sputtering. So quarterback Sam Darnold looked for a familiar partner. He unleashed...
The first boos trickled down from the Coliseum crowd with 14:47 remaining in the second quarter. So much for USC enjoying any sort of honeymoon at the start of this, their most promising football season in recent years. “It didn’t get to us,” offensive lineman Chuma Edoga said. “You know how fans...
Playing in high school or watching from the bench, a new player can forget one unchangeable fact about college football: The dominant emotion of the game is not excitement. It is not school pride. There are big men on the field trying to make you mess up. Trying to hurt you. The dominant emotion...
USC (0-0) vs. Western Michigan (0-0) Saturday, 2:15 p.m., Coliseum TV: Pac-12 Networks. Radio: 710 Marquee matchup USC’s front seven vs. Western Michigan’s running game: The defensive front has the potential to be USC’s best in years. It will receive an immediate test because Western Michigan’s...
Before USC cornerback Iman Marshall entered high school, a time when some parents talk with their children about smart choices, Marshall’s father Tony sat in Marshall’s bedroom to deliver his own version of The Talk. Instead of discussing birds and bees, Tony told his son about DTs and QBs. They...
Need some help deciding which college football games to watch this weekend? Look no further. TODAY Navy at Florida Atlantic, 5 p.m., ESPNU Lane Kiffin will be back on the sideline as a head coach for the first time since being fired by USC nearly four years ago. Kiffin won his initial outings as...
Each week, the Los Angeles Times' contingent of college football experts — it's how they refer to themselves — will make choices on a variety of games. Warning: If they could accurately predict results, they wouldn't be reporters or editors. Their picks: Ben Bolch Navy at Florida Atlantic: Navy,...
USC’s defensive starters almost could’ve asserted squatter’s rights on the Coliseum turf last season. Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast hardly ever pulled them off the field. “We kind of held on for dear life with that group last year,” coach Clay Helton said. The lack of substitutions became...
Deontay Burnett practiced over-the-shoulder catches with a fellow receiver after USC’s practice Tuesday. Burnett would run in place, look up for the ball, catch, then lob one back. The throws to Burnett came in cleaner than the ones he threw out. They spun in a tighter spiral. They hit Burnett...
It didn’t take long for the new college football season to revive a classic debate over strength of schedule and marquee programs padding their nonconference record with underdogs. Nick Saban — whose top-ranked Alabama team has taken the opposite tack, starting against third-ranked Florida State...
Before USC opened training camp, coach Clay Helton was asked about the meat grinder that the Trojans must navigate early in their schedule. He was asked about Week 2 opponent Stanford and Week 3 opponent Texas. He was not asked about USC’s opener against Western Michigan. But Helton put the Broncos...
Not only does Los Angeles now have two NFL teams, but two of college football’s most intriguing quarterback prospects. At the scouting combine in February, there was already some buzz among evaluators about USC’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen. Greg Cosell, a senior producer for NFL Films, is...
USC tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe took a step forward this week in his return from a hip flexor injury, graduating from playing catch with coach Clay Helton to fully participating in practice. “I think he'll be full speed come next week,” Helton said. “He's really feeling good right now." Barring...
Visitors to Gary Beban’s home never knew where they might find his Heisman Trophy, only that it would never be prominently displayed or featured behind glass. Once it did humble duty as a doorstop in his study. On other occasions, he would use it as a clothes hanger when perched on his desk or...
Think of college football in slightly different terms. Something like the Indianapolis 500. In this era of the College Football Playoff, the official race doesn’t begin until October, when committee members launch the weekly rankings that ultimately determine which four teams play for the national...
College football fans won’t have to wait long for big games this season. With elite programs thinking about strength-of-schedule in the playoff era, the marquee match-ups begin in Week 2 and keep coming: Sept. 2: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Florida State — This rare opener between Top 5 teams, played...
Kenechi Udeze wrapped frigid fingers around his phone and snapped a video. The rest of USC’s coaching staff needed to understand where he was. Udeze was cold, very, very cold. He could see only white. He was in the dark. He was in Alaska in the winter. It was not a typical recruiting destination....
Freshman offensive tackle Austin Jackson was the smallest of five offensive linemen in USC’s most recent recruiting class. He quickly set about changing that. "Yeah, I was eating a whole lot of food,” he said. “There's a lot of food here to eat. And coach [Neil] Callway's been on me.” In high school,...
USC’s offense zipped down the field against the starting defense on Tuesday for one of the first times in preseason camp. Occasionally, quarterback Sam Darnold struck with a long, vertical pass over the top. But most often, it was running back Ronald Jones II who pounded the Trojans’ front seven....
Attorneys for former USC kicker Matt Boermeester have filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to have his expulsion from the school overturned. Boermeester, who kicked the winning field goal in the Rose Bowl in January, was removed from the football team later that month after...
Offensive lineman Max Tuerk, a former USC standout who was a third-round pick of the Chargers in 2016, has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Tuerk, who was battling for a reserve spot and...
It seems that a couple of things about this Monday don’t particularly exhilarate Nick Saban. The Alabama coach doesn’t seem to care much about the solar eclipse. He appears even less excited about his team sitting atop the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Though the Crimson Tide was the overwhelming choice...
USC was ranked No. 4 in the preseason Associated Press top 25 football poll released Monday, the first time the Trojans have entered the national title conversation in the College Football Playoff era. Now comes the difficult part: winning enough to be in the top four of the CFP ranking — thereby...
Stephen Carr turned the corner on a stretch run to the defense, then scooted inside a defensive back trying to keep contain. It took three USC defenders to finally bring him down. “I see you, seven!” a teammate on the offensive sideline burst out, referring to Carr’s uniform number. It was difficult...
Iman Marshall made a list of the best receivers he will face this season and spent the offseason compiling film and studying them. He reviewed past encounters, mining his memory for ticks and tips. He is, in other words, preparing for his new role: USC’s No. 1 cornerback. Last season, Marshall...
When Richard Saukko galloped his chalk-white Arabian horse named Traveler around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum almost 56 years ago, it was supposed to be a one-time stunt. Instead, the brief performance before USC kicked off its season against Georgia Tech turned into one of college football’s...
Like an entrepreneur entering a venture capitalist’s boardroom, USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin walked into a recent receivers meeting with an announcement. "He said, ‘Uh, I came up with this new app,’" receiver Deontay Burnett recalled. As of Wednesday, the receivers had it downloaded onto...
Rarely has anyone accused USC cornerback Jack Jones of being coy. But when he huffed and puffed off USC’s practice field Wednesday, he grimaced. He was hoping he could leave without talking to reporters. His chest heaved — he was tired, he explained. He’d just spent about 20 minutes after a long...
There was one question no one wanted to touch after USC’s practice on Tuesday. Tyson Helton laughed, shook his head and said he would elect to punt. “That's a head ball coach's decision,” he said. The head coach, his brother, Clay Helton, equivocated. It was a question that has no direct impact on...
USC coach Clay Helton said he would never forget the first time he saw Joseph Lewis IV play in person for Hawkins High. If he was lucky, Helton thought, he’d be getting a very nice receiver prospect. But he saw more. “I was even more impressed with him defensively,” Helton said. “He reminded me...
Sam Darnold ripped off his chinstrap and jogged straight to the sideline. A few minutes later, he jogged straight to the sideline again. He ripped off his chinstrap with a little more force. A few minutes after that: same thing, this chinstrap ripped with even more vigor. The scene repeated itself...
Upon one of the first mentions of USC’s kicking game during training camp, Clay Helton let out a sigh. “I’m thanking God we’ve got about three more weeks left,” Helton said. The Trojans have struggled to replace Matt Boermeester, who won the Rose Bowl game on a 46-yard kick as time expired but...
Life on the offensive line is marked by cadence, timing and rhythm — snap, step, hit. USC’s rhythm is all encompassing. It strums through walls and seeps under doors. Linemen hear the melody when they fall asleep and when they wake in the morning. The tune is bluesy, a little country, and it lilts...
Ykili Ross can do little wrong during training camp. USC’s safety made two interceptions in a single practice less than a week ago. On Wednesday, he dived to snare another. He has earned praise from coach Clay Helton, who said Ross is “starting to make plays for us.” Yet a frustrating reality greets...
Quarterback Sam Darnold lay on his back, bracing for another sit-up. The strength eluded him. He swung his legs up and out and used the momentum to lever himself upright. His teammates called out a number, and then they slunk back down again. Tuesday was punishment day at the eighth practice of...
Tyson Helton, USC’s quarterbacks coach, stood in a film room Monday holding a strange, round gadget that looked like a smaller version of Luke Skywalker’s pilot helmet. Helton said he was going to use it to read minds. "Before you put this on,” Helton said, “I can turn this thing anywhere and see...
About 50 miles northwest of Hollywood, not long after Sam Darnold ended an exhausting session as the star of the Pac-12 Conference’s media days, a quarterback offered a ball up into the swirling winds of Ventura. A receiver sprinted underneath and caught it for a touchdown. “OK!” a teammate yelled...
Stephen Carr, USC’s freshman running back, took an inside handoff during Saturday’s practice and dashed to his left. Then, with one hard plant, he wasn’t going left anymore, though USC’s first-team defense still was, as if it was playing on ice. Carr reversed field and scampered easily into the...
Cary Angeline caught a pass during seven-on-seven drills Thursday and turned upfield — 6 feet 7 inches and 240 pounds of tight end rumbling down the sideline. Angeline and USC wore helmets and shoulder pads, not full pads, meaning defensive players were supposed to “thud” only, instead of wrapping...
When tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe stepped into the USC locker room for the first time as a scholarship athlete, he found the nameplate got his last name wrong. Yes, “Imatorbhebhe” is a difficult last name, he said. But still. "Coming out of high school I wasn't really given a chance by too many...
One year after USC cornerback Jack Jones set foot on USC’s campus and declared that he would win the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, Jones returned humbler. A year of learning behind Adoree’ Jackson turned him mellower. A year of playing mostly reserve duty made him … no, just kidding. Jones said...
Last season, Ronald Jones II didn’t feel like himself. Jones struggled to run the ball through the first several games, and by the midpoint of the season he was certain he knew why: He had cut off his dreadlocks. A year later, the USC tailback won’t make the same mistake. Dreadlocks bounced off...
The girlfriend of former USC kicker Matt Boermeester said Sunday that the Title IX investigation that led to his removal from the school's football team was "horrible and unjust" to her and Boermeester. Zoe Katz, 22, a senior, said in a two-page statement her attorney emailed to The Times that...
Junior quarterback J.T. Daniels of Santa Ana Mater Dei High announced via Twitter on Sunday that he has committed to USC. Daniels was one of the most proficient and effective quarterbacks in California last season as a sophomore. In 14 games, he completed 75% of his passes for 4,849 yards and 67...
Deontay Burnett politely declined some advice Saturday. Burnett, a mild-mannered junior from Gardena Serra High, is expected to be the No. 1 receiver this season for USC, which opened training camp Saturday. The role is hallowed territory around Heritage Hall. The last four top pass-catchers at...
Few teams in the history of football have won a national title with a mediocre offensive line. So before USC answers questions about whether it can compete for a championship this season, the Trojans will have to address a more pressing concern. Will the line provide enough space for quarterback...
It’s nice to see that Bill Plaschke has once again decided to become the general manager of the Dodgers. Even though Dave Roberts stated that despite Clayton Kershaw’s injury, the team would continue winning games, Plaschke concluded that Roberts was really yelling, “Help!” As usual, Bill wants...
What would you do if O.J. Simpson walked into your office? There was laughter around the patio table. Clay Helton smiled. “I’m cordial to every person I’ve ever met,” Helton replied. Would you let the soon-to-be parolee watch practice? “Currently, right now, what USC, the administration and the...
One of the intended benefits of college football’s new early signing period is that it will allow high school players to lock in on a school in December, preventing two additional months of recruiting drama. That is, if it doesn’t lead to a different kind of fuss. “Honestly, what’s going to happen,...
Since 2009, Pete Carroll’s last season at USC, the Trojans have carried on a passionate and regular affair with preseason expectations. The fling always starts in the summer, hot and heavy. Pollsters cast amorous glances at USC’s talent and declare that USC is back. USC rides high on the love....
By October, O.J. Simpson could be released from a Nevada prison and free to go where he pleases. In theory, that could include USC. Simpson, who starred at running back for the Trojans, was once welcomed to a practice by then-coach Pete Carroll nearly 10 years after being acquitted of murder —...
Earlier this year, Bill Moos, Washington State’s athletic director, did what a lot of spurned Pac-12 Conference fans have done at one time or another during the last five years: He complained about the Pac-12 Networks. “We were hoping for $5 million to $6 million when we were launching,” Moos said...
The media predicted a first for USC and the Pac-12 Conference’s South Division on Wednesday, picking the Trojans not only to win the South but defeat Washington in the conference championship game on Dec. 1 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That would certainly be newsworthy. Pac-12 South teams...
Matt Boermeester, whose 46-yard field goal in the closing seconds won the Rose Bowl for the Trojans in January, won’t return to USC this season. USC suspended Boermeester early in 2017 while the school investigated what it described as "a code of conduct issue.” A school spokesman said Tuesday...
Someone will win the Pac-12 Conference’s South Division. The question is whether that football team can prevail in the game that really matters in early December at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Since the first Pac-12 championship game was staged in 2011, the North has gone 6-0. If the South intends...
The tectonic plates of the Pac-12 Conference’s North division have been shifting for several seasons, but mostly under the surface. As Stanford and Oregon dominated the division and the rest of the conference — winning every Pac-12 football championship from 2009 until last season — Washington...
If his past is any indication, O.J. Simpson will soon be paroled into a world of questionable friends, nasty onlookers and only one consistently reliable and historically deep outside connection. The most notorious athlete in U.S. history can count on the fact that he’ll always be a USC Trojan....
Academics were never a strong suit for Leroy Neal, whose grade-point average was just high enough to remain eligible for cross-country and track at Fullerton High, Fullerton College and Occidental College from 1955-63. Even with an extra year at Occidental after his athletic eligibility expired,...
Jim Bush, a legendary track and field coach at UCLA and master at developing world-class 400-meter runners, died Monday, the school announced. He was 90. From 1965 to 1984, Bush guided UCLA to five NCAA championships. In the late 1960s, quartermilers Wayne Collett and John Smith became world-class...
Kevin Porter Jr., one of the top-rated recruits at shooting guard in the West, announced on Sunday that he has committed to USC, marking the Trojans’ third major commitment in the last week. The commitment of Porter, who is from Seattle’s Rainier Beach High, completes USC’s best week of recruiting...
Taeshon Cherry, a highly touted 6-foot-8 forward from San Diego, has committed to play for USC, he announced Friday on Twitter. By some measures, Cherry is USC’s highest-rated recruit since DeMar DeRozan committed to USC 10 years ago. He is rated either four or five stars by the major recruiting...
USC guard De’Anthony Melton and UCLA incoming freshman Kris Wilkes were among 28 high school and collegiate players invited to USA Basketball’s Under-19 training camp that will take place June 18-25. The invitees will travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where...
Five of USC’s 12 regular-season football games have been placed in television time slots, including the Trojans’ first three games and two night games at Washington State and Notre Dame. Here’s the full television schedule (all times are Pacific): Sept. 2 vs. Western Michigan, 2:15 p.m. (Pac-12...
Thirteen years ago, quarterbacks coach Steve Clarkson and a group of families whose sons he tutored, including Matt Leinart, Jimmy Clausen and Ben Roethlisberger, decided to make a Memorial Day weekend getaway to Santa Barbara. “They had an annual chalk festival over at the mission in Santa Barbara,”...
Sam Darnold entered last college football season as an unknown backup quarterback at USC. This year will be a bit different. Not only is Darnold the Trojans’ unquestioned starter at the position, he is also a Heisman Trophy favorite. In fact, several Las Vegas books have Darnold as the Heisman...
While Bennie Boatwright was exploring the NBA draft, he worked out alone as he pondered his decision. The rest of the team didn’t see him for a while. One day, someone sent out a text to the team’s group chat before a weight-training session, seeking a head count. Who was coming? A few minutes...
For the first time in 94 years, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be known as something else. USC has a deal in place to sell the stadium’s naming rights to United Airlines. The name of the stadium has not been revealed, though Coliseum Commission President Mark-Ridley Thomas said he reviewed...
USC’s second-highest paid coach for the 2015 football season hadn’t coached the team in more than a year. Its highest-paid coach didn’t make it past October. In the 2015-16 fiscal year, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian were again among USC’s best-compensated employees, according to the school’s...
Attorneys for Lamar Dawson will appeal the dismissal of the former USC linebacker’s class-action wage lawsuit against the NCAA and Pac-12 Conference. In a brief notice filed last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the attorneys said they intended to appeal Judge Richard Seeborg’s decision...
A noisy reminder of their strong alliance and potential world dominance dangles from their necks. At the bottom of a gold chain lie small circular discs etched with the words “Tokyo 2020” and “Redbear,” the former a reference to their intended Olympic destination and the latter their informal nickname....
USC season-ticket holders unhappy with USC’s reseating plan for the Coliseum renovation may be “fearful of change,” athletic director Lynn Swann said on Thursday. Swann reported that USC's plan, announced last week and met by uneasiness by some fans, "was really well received." “Most importantly,...
While many USC athletes were sitting down for the last of their spring semester final exams Wednesday morning, the athletic department was receiving its own grade of sorts from the NCAA. This one the Trojans can hang on the fridge. USC’s football and men’s basketball teams each posted all-time...
USC unveiled the seating plan Thursday for the completion of the Coliseum’s renovation in 2019, an undertaking that will force season-ticket holders to relocate. The school has raised $225 million in cash and pledges for the $270-million project, according to Steve Lopes, the USC athletic department’s...
It was four years ago as a senior at Moorpark High that Chad Hansen had only one college scholarship offer — from Idaho State. He ran 100 meters in 10.91 seconds, was a 22-foot long jumper and caught 12 touchdown passes as a receiver. Fast forward to Saturday and the third day of the NFL draft....
USC forward Bennie Boatwright announced on Thursday that he will withdraw from the NBA draft and return for his junior season. Boatwright’s announcement means the Trojans will return almost all of their roster from last season’s NCAA tournament team. Previously, forward Chimezie Metu said he would...
Almost six years after Todd McNair sued the NCAA for defamation, the former USC assistant football coach’s lawsuit is finally moving toward trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller scheduled the trial to start April 18, 2018, in a case-management order issued earlier this...
USC guard Elijah Stewart did not file his paperwork to declare for the NBA draft and will return to USC, Stewart said on Tuesday. Stewart had initially said he would declare without hiring an agent, which would allow him to return to USC. But he never felt fully committed. At the time, he told...
A federal judge dismissed former USC linebacker Lamar Dawson’s class-action wage lawsuit against the NCAA and Pac-12 Conference on Tuesday, saying the case was based on “untenable legal theory.” Dawson, who played for USC from 2011 through 2015, sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in September....
So who will hear his name called first in the NFL draft, a player from USC or UCLA? In the Pete Carroll era, that was a no-brainer. USC dominated in that department. In three of the last four drafts, though, a UCLA player was taken before his USC counterpart. And it could happen again this year,...
USC’s renovation of the Coliseum will place luxury boxes atop a large swath of seats near midfield, add aisles and concourses and shrink the stadium’s capacity from 94,000 to 77,500. The alterations mean many season-ticket holders will be forced to move. USC began its rollout of the re-seating...
USC’s new women’s basketball coach isn’t really new. The Trojans have hired Mark Trakh, who previously coached the Trojans from 2005 to 2009, to fill the open position, the school announced Friday. The announcement ends an unusually lengthy coaching search. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke resigned in March...
For the first time since 2008, a McDonald’s All-American has signed with USC. Charles O’Bannon Jr. filed his paperwork to join a three-man recruiting class, the school announced Thursday. O’Bannon, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing from Las Vegas will make an already deep backcourt even more crowded....
The Rams, in need of depth at cornerback, brought in USC’s Adoree’ Jackson for a visit Monday, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Jackson, 21, grew up a Rams fan in Belleville, Ill., not far from where the Rams played home games in St. Louis. The Rams do not have a first-round pick...
The most taxing portion of Sam Darnold’s Saturday came not during USC’s spring game at the Coliseum, which was not much of a game at all. USC’s starting quarterback threw six passes, handed off a few times, then stood for the rest of the afternoon on the sideline with his helmet in his hand. The...
Michael Pittman’s laboratory is tucked in a corner of USC’s practice field. He retreated there, usually with two team managers, for about 30 minutes after every practice this spring. A manager would load the ball into the passing machine. Clank. Pittman would pose as if he were reaching for a pass...
USC guard Elijah Stewart said on Tuesday that he will declare for the NBA draft, joining two other Trojans teammates who have already declared this offseason. He will not hire an agent, meaning he will retain the option to return to USC. Stewart said that a return is most likely. He is not currently...
USC’s quarterbacks came into Thursday’s scrimmage at the Coliseum with a plan. They were going to pick on the young, swaggering cornerback, Jack Jones. Jones played sparingly last season as a freshman, but by the spring he was pestering quarterback Sam Darnold like a mosquito at a picnic. He began...
USC forward Bennie Boatwright has declared for the NBA draft, he said on Wednesday. Boatwright said he will not hire an agent, meaning he will have the option to return to USC. Boatwright missed about half of last season because of a knee injury but quickly became USC's leading scorer upon his...
After reaching its second consecutive NCAA tournament, USC has given men’s basketball coach Andy Enfield his second consecutive contract extension. Enfield’s contract was extended another two years, through the spring of 2023, the school announced Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed. In 2013, Enfield...
USC Coach Clay Helton plunked a football down just outside the goal line. USC’s offense lined up with heels almost touching the chalk. Helton calls it the “backed-up” drill: The offense tries to punch out from its own end zone. Only on Tuesday, the defense was pushing the offense back. Quarterback...
After USC’s football practice ended on Saturday, Coach Clay Helton grabbed receiver Deontay Burnett and wrapped his arm around him. "I just used him as an example of what a Trojan should be,” Helton said. “Right now, he's just a shut-up-and-work guy." The departure of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus...
USC guard Shaqquan Aaron has declared for the NBA draft, a team spokesman said Friday, but Aaron has not hired an agent, meaning he will retain the option to return to the team. Aaron, a 6-foot-7 sophomore wing, is unlikely to be drafted this year and could decide to return. He averaged 7.6 points...
More so than any departing USC player — more so than a lot of current players — the Trojans love to talk about Stevie Tu’ikolovatu, the 25-year-old defensive tackle transfer who became one of the defense’s best players last season. Tu’ikolovatu is mentioned several times in interviews during spring...
Did you hear the story of the extremely successful Los Angeles basketball coach who coached an extremely talented 6-6 point guard , the top point guard in the entire country? Who then surprisingly resigned so he could be closer to his home? Or maybe he resigned because he could not cope with the...
They have soared over every obstacle, defeating each team on their schedule while restoring sheen to a brand that had dulled considerably in the more than two decades since the UCLA Bruins last ruled college basketball. Showtime, once the exclusive realm of the Lakers, has moved to Westwood, where...
Occidental College is nine miles from USC. In football terms, the schools are galaxies apart. Somehow, quarterback Bryan Scott bridged that divide. The four-year starter from Occidental handled the throwing duties Wednesday at USC’s pro day. He deftly distributed the football to a collection of...
JuJu Smith-Schuster, the youngest participant at last month’s NFL scouting combine, is determined to show teams he has his head on straight. Even if his hat is on backward. The 20-year-old receiver was so at ease during USC’s pro day Wednesday that he never removed his baseball cap. Not during...
When Lonzo Ball warmed up for basketball practice at Pauley Pavilion earlier this week, the UCLA freshman wore red and black ankle socks emblazoned with “BBB.’’ That’s short for Big Baller Brand, the Chino Hills family’s apparel company that hawks $60 T-shirts and $100 hats through a website. Each...
USC’s projected basketball roster next season: :: Shaqquan Aaron, Jr., G, 6-7: May have saved USC's season with 23 points against UCLA but struggled with consistency. Bennie Boatwright, Jr., F, 6-10: Would be the hardest player for USC to replace; a threat to score from inside and out. Devin Fleming,...
USC players shuffled in a procession down a tunnel at the BOK Center on Sunday evening, until the only player remaining on the court was Bennie Boatwright. Around him, Baylor’s players snapped photos and celebrated their win in the NCAA tournament second-round game that ended USC’s season. Boatwright...
The gears of a March loss grind without a rulebook or a leader. In USC’s locker room Sunday evening, the loser’s soundtrack spun on autoplay: The spatter of a shower, the low hush of voices and the scraping of velcro as a staffer peeled off USC’s nameplates, the evidence that the Trojans had made...