NCAA refuses to restore eligibility for All-American Williams

By John Nadel ~ The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Mike Williams was shut out again.

Three months after the courts kept him out of the NFL draft, the All-American receiver had his request to rejoin top-ranked Southern California denied by the NCAA on Thursday.

"I'm glad it's over. Now the team can move forward and I can move forward," Williams said in a telephone interview. "I'm disappointed. I did everything asked of me. I don't know yet what I'm going to do. I'll just relax for the weekend and watch the game and root for my team."

The ruling was received shortly before the Trojans boarded an airplane for Baltimore. They open defense of their national championship Saturday night against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

USC vice president and legal counsel Todd Dickey said while the ruling could be appealed, the matter was closed.

"At this point, we don't believe it would be useful to go through those processes," he said. "We think the NCAA has firmly made up its mind."

Williams agreed, saying: "I'm kind of done with it right now."

USC coach Pete Carroll made no attempt to hide his anger concerning the ruling and its timing.

"It's very cold and insensitive for them to deny him this opportunity," the coach said. "I'm not surprised by it, but I'm disappointed for Mike and his family. You'll have to go and ask the NCAA for answers, how they can turn someone down who is otherwise academically eligible."

USC had applied to the NCAA for a progress-toward-degree waiver and reinstatement of Williams' eligibility.

"I fear that the NCAA may have put Mike and USC through this process to make the NCAA appear fair and thorough in their deliberations," Dickey said. "It appears that they may have decided long ago that Mike would not play college football again."

Williams caught 95 passes for 1,314 yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns as a sophomore last season to help the Trojans (12-1) win the national championship. The 20-year-old Williams, a sure-handed 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

After a court ruled that last winter that Ohio State's Maurice Clarett was eligible to play in the NFL, Williams left USC, hired an agent and said he was turning pro. That made him ineligible to play for the Trojans.

Williams was projected as a high first-round draft pick, but on May 24, an appeals court overturned the earlier ruling and upheld the NFL's right to bar players who had been out of high school for less than three years.

Williams has been out of high school less than three years, as has Clarett, who was suspended last season after starring at Ohio State as a freshman.

After the appeals court ruling, Williams severed ties with his agent and began the process of applying to the NCAA for reinstatement.

He returned to USC and took summer classes, seeking to have his academic eligibility also restored.

It was all for naught.

"The process has been uphill throughout," Carroll said. "It's been difficult, anxious, frustrating, all those things. ... The NCAA denied Mike's request both on an academic and amateur level. It was a very quick decision. There's a supposed tone of student friendliness now, but that's not the case here. I'm talking about the NCAA at its highest levels.

"Mike's OK, he could sense it, too. It's been difficult for him. He felt it was an uphill battle from the start. I feel sick for him. The team will be OK, we've prepared without him."

Two NCAA committees each considered separate issues. One was academics-related -- whether Williams has made sufficient progress toward a degree. The other was whether he had returned all benefits provided him by his agent and endorsements.

Williams claimed he had documented the return of all such benefits.

Despite playing only two years, Williams finishes his USC career as the fourth-leading receiver in school history. He was the favorite target of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer as a freshman in 2002, making 81 receptions for 1,265 yards and 14 TDs.

"We've been preparing without him," quarterback Matt Leinart said earlier this week. "(But) you can't fill the shoes of Mike. I can't imagine what he's gone through."

At least in part due to Williams, Leinart finished sixth in the Heisman voting last season.

Highly touted freshmen wide receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Fred Davis might make Williams' absence easier to take.

"I think we are in a good situation under the circumstances, but we are extremely untested," Carroll said.

Sophomores Steve Smith and Chris McFoy will start at wide receiver against Virginia Tech. Smith is the leading returning receiver, having caught 17 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. McFoy had two catches for 23 yards.

Williams will be eligible for next year's NFL draft.

League spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment on Thursday's ruling, but said Williams was informed before making his decision to go pro that if the NFL prevailed in court, he would not be eligible for this year's draft.