USC guard De’Anthony Melton has not played yet this season for the Trojans. In the FBI complaints that came to the surface this fall, a family friend of Melton’s allegedly accepted money in exchange for exerting influence on what financial advisor Melton would use when he turned pro.
Melton wasn’t technically suspended, and he wasn’t initially ruled ineligible, either. USC was holding him out of competition, because if he happened to be ruled ineligible at some point, any game that he played in could end up being forfeited.
You play it safe in those situations.
Except, according to a report from the LA Times, Melton has now been ruled ineligible, but the school won’t tell him why. Melton’s attorney told the paper that she does not know when Melton was ruled ineligible and she does not know what the new information is that the school uncovered.
What they do know is that he will not be allowed to travel with the team to the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai’i over the Christmas holiday.
USC was a top ten team entering the year, but through ten games they have just a 6-4 record after Tuesday’s 103-93 overtime loss to Princeton at home.