Bru McCoy‘s true freshman season at USC will end the same way it began -- on the sidelines.
Due to one part unspecified illness and another part eligibility issues, the highly-touted and much-discussed 2019 signee had yet to see the field for the Trojans’ first eight games of the 2019 season. Wednesday, Clay Helton acknowledged that McCoy will not play at all the remainder of the season.
McCoy will take a redshirt for this season, leaving him with four years of eligibility.
“Right now, Bru is not going to play this year,” said the head coach. “He’s doing a great job academically, doing a great job in strength and conditioning. He’ll be ready for spring.”
The illness/eligibility issues continued what was a roller coaster last year or so for McCoy.
McCoy, a five-star 2019 recruit who signed with USC in December, was reportedly mulling a transfer to Texas a month later… which was followed not long after by USC granting a release to McCoy from his National Letter of Intent so he would be free to move about the country… which was followed by McCoy signing with Texas in late January… which was followed by reports that surfaced Memorial Day that McCoy had told Helton he had decided to leave Texas and return to USC.
The last Tuesday of May, it was reported that a “severe case of homesickness” had led to the California native’s uncertainty. That same day, another report surfaced that a UT contingent, headed by head coach Tom Herman, made the trek to the Golden State in an attempt to convince McCoy to stick to his commitment to the Longhorns. That move didn’t bear fruit as McCoy confirmed on the last day of May that he would be returning to the Trojans.
On June 11, USC made McCoy’s return to The Land of Troy official.
McCoy was the highest-rated member of USC’s 2019 recruiting class, the only five-star prospect pulled in by Helton & Company this cycle. On 247Sports.com‘s composite board, McCoy was rated as the No. 1 athlete in the country; the No. 2 player at any position in the state of California; and the No. 9 player overall in this class.