Former Tar Heel to Transfer to USC

The Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that former Tar Heel power forward Alex Stepheson intends to transfer to USC this fall. The 6'9" 235lb Southern California native decided to transfer after spending two seasons at UNC where he played limited minutes off the bench. Stepheson also wanted to transfer to a university closer to home to be close to his father, who is suffering from a heart illness. Stepheson becomes the first commit for the Trojans for the class of 2009.



As Daily News article mentioned, it is uncertain whether or not the Trojans have an available scholarship to give Stepheson this season. The Trojans currently have...


13 scholarship players on their roster for next season.

• Rousean Cromwell
• Keith Wilkinson
• Taj Gibson
• Dwight Lewis
• Kasey Cunningham
• Angelo Johnson
• Mamadou Diarra
  
• Marcus Simmons
  
• Donte Smith
• Leonard Washington
• Demar Derozan
• Percy Miller
• Nikola Vucevic

The Trojans will have plenty of scholarships to give away for the 2009-2010 season with the departure of our two seniors, Wilkinson & Cromwell, and the likely departures of Taj Gibson and Demar Derozan. One scenario remains in which the Trojans could free up a scholarship this season; Percy "Romeo" Miller giving up his scholarship. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a scholarship, I have yet to see him play, but he certainly doesn't NEED a scholarship. The multi-talented multimillionaire would have no problems paying the tuition at USC.

Regardless of the scholarship situation, congratulations to Tim Floyd and the Trojan coaching staff for bringing in another talented player. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a recruiting class that has tremendous potential.

Fight On!