Source: USC early enrollee enters transfer portal

Bru McCoy, an early enrollee at USC, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal, a source told ESPN on Thursday.

The news was first reported by Rivals.

McCoy is the No. 27 ranked prospect in the 2019 class and signed with the Trojans in the early signing period on Dec. 19.

The Mater Dei High School prospect didn’t make his commitment public until Jan. 5 at the Under Armour All-America Game, but he had been signed for those few weeks. Only days after McCoy made his choice known, USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left to take the head coaching job for the Arizona Cardinals.

USC has still not named an offensive coordinator ro replace Kingsbury.

McCoy, who is USC’s highest ranked recruit in this class, enrolled early and has already started classes on campus, so he would need to be released from the national letter of intent that he signed in December in order to transfer to another school.

Because McCoy has not completed a full academic year at USC, if he does receive a release from his NLI, the penalty is that he would need to serve one academic year in residence at the new program and will lose one season of competition.

The timing of this decision, if he does transfer, would mean McCoy would have to sit out the 2019 season and would be eligible to play in 2020.

In order to gain a release if USC does not release him, according to the National Letter of Intent, extenuating circumstances must be presented in any appeal to the NLI Appeals Committee as grounds for a complete release. The committee determines extenuating circumstances in a case-by-case scenario and would need to determine if Kingsbury leaving is enough to release McCoy from his signed document.

According to a source, if McCoy does transfer, Texas could be a landing spot for the talented athlete. McCoy also built a relationship with new Tennessee offensive coordinator Tee Martin, who was previously on staff at USC.