Williams Back? There’s a Catch

Mike Williams is expected to announce today that he wants to play for USC in the upcoming season and that he has taken necessary steps that will allow the school to petition the NCAA for reinstatement of his eligibility.

In February, the All-American receiver declared himself eligible for the NFL draft and hired agent Mike Azzarelli -- thereby forfeiting his college eligibility and final two seasons as a Trojan -- after a U.S. district judge ruled that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett and underclassmen of all ages were eligible for the April draft.

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, however, issued a stay and ultimately overturned the ruling May 24.

After the appellate court’s decision, Azzarelli said he planned to file a lawsuit against the NFL on Williams’ behalf.

But Tuesday, Azzarelli said he would not pursue legal action against the league. He also said he had advised Williams to return to USC.

“At this point, the best thing for him to do is pursue reinstatement,” Azzarelli said.

Williams, 20, could not be reached for comment. He is scheduled to appear today on former USC player Petros Papadakis’ Los Angeles radio show to make an announcement regarding his plans.

Coach Pete Carroll said last week that Williams intended for USC to start the reinstatement application process, but no paperwork has been received from the school, NCAA spokeswoman Kay Hawes said.

As part of the reinstatement application process, USC would have to show evidence that Williams had severed ties with his agent and that any benefits received from the agent were repaid, Hawes said.

Azzarelli, who is based in Williams’ hometown of Tampa, Fla., would not confirm whether he was still representing Williams but said, “He doesn’t need an NFL agent if he’s going to be a college football player.”

Carroll said Williams was “right on the verge of making the next step. It’s taken a good while to get organized to get to the point where Mike can go forward with this.”

If Williams were to return to USC, the school would have to address his academic eligibility in a separate process involving the NCAA.

Williams left school shortly after the spring semester began and -- as of last week -- had not attended summer classes, which began May 19. According to USC’s website, another six-week summer session begins June 30.

Schools can petition the NCAA for a waiver of satisfactory academic progress, Hawes said.

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As expected, USC agreed to change its game at Brigham Young from Sept. 4 to Sept. 18.

The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

BYU had requested the switch to accommodate Notre Dame, which was scheduled to play at Provo, Utah, on Oct. 30. Notre Dame wanted the change to Sept. 4 so that it will have played a game before meeting Michigan on Sept. 11.

Daryl Gross, a USC senior associate athletic director, said last week that the Trojans were open to the change only because it would result in a favorable academic situation for the Trojans and would better balance USC’s schedule.

USC opens the season Aug. 28 against Virginia Tech in the Black Coaches Assn. Classic at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. The Trojans, who will begin school when they return, were to play BYU the following weekend and Colorado State in their home opener on Sept. 11.

Filling the Sept. 18 date eliminated what would have been two byes in a three-week span because the Trojans have an open date Oct. 2.

Carroll said he hoped Trojan fans who planned to attend the originally scheduled BYU game would not be too inconvenienced by a change that could benefit the Trojans’ quest for a second consecutive national championship.

“Once we get started after that first bye, we’re kind of rolling,” he said.