The first academic casualty of USC's 2008 recruiting class is OL recruit Daniel Campbell. That's disappointing, Wolf is reporting that he will instead attend Hargreaves Military Academy in Virginia and then he is free to commit to what ever school he wants. We wish him luck and hope he gets things on track for next year regardless of  where he ends up.

Nick Perry and Curtis McNeil also haven't been cleared by the NCAA so they won't be in practice either. Wolf has an update on their progress as well.

When USC players report tomorrow for training camp, defensive end Nick Perry and tailback Curtis McNeal will not be there because of academic issues regarding the NCAA Clearinghouse.

I previously mentioned Perry only needs a verification of graduation, so it should happen. McNeal is more complicated but people seem to think he will qualify.

I am not sure what the issues are with McNeil that make his situation more complicated but lets hope he gets it worked out in the coming weeks. Is it just me or is there a higher than normal rate academic issues this season already, and I don't mean only at USC I mean nationally.

The other player in limbo out there is Maurice SImmons who was arrested earlier this year and who is currently on trial for robbery and other allegations. Hard to know how this one will turn out so its best to take a wait and see approach.

I frankly have no problem if these kids don't make it on the team. It's not too much to ask for recruits to meet the minimum standards. Pete Carroll and USC have done their part in recruiting and laying out the expectations of what these recruits need to do in order to make it at USC. It is their responsibility to ensure that they make the grades or keep out of trouble. It is better to know now and go in a different direction if there is a potential issue than to have something come up after they are already enrolled.

I'm certainly not passing judgment as I understand things happen but SC has enough on their plate as it is and they don't have time to baby sit these sorts of issues right out of the gate. Regardless who makes it or who doesn't we wish the best for these kids and hope that things fall into place as things moves forward.

UPDATE: I totally forgot this but Malik Jackson should also be available for training camp as Wolf reports:

Freshman defensive end Malik Jackson is on campus and will report for training camp. His mother is handling getting his senior year transcript sent to the NCAA Clearinghouse so that he can be certified without problems.

I knew I was missing something...