Sophomore wide receiver Randal Grimes to transfer from USC

The USC Trojans are down another player as Randal Grimes announced his decision to transfer to pursue playing time at another university.

Randal Grimes is the third Trojan to transfer in 2018, after Ykili Ross, Je’Quari Godfrey, and Bubba Bolden. A sophomore wide receiver, Grimes served as a backup in 2017 and 2018. He played in six total games, which burned his opportunity at a redshirt last year. Grimes missed a portion of spring camp this season to focus his attention to academics, and missed a few in-season practices for reasons never announced.

Hailing from Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 6-foot-5 Grimes was a three-star athlete with offers from schools such as BYU, Cal, Nebraska, and UNLV. He was the No. 7 recruit in the state of Nevada and the No. 23 athlete in the class of 2017. Though he has yet to comment on which schools are on his short list, it is likely he may chose his hometown team the UNLV Rebels.

Though Grimes was a talent yet to be tapped for the Trojans, they are in good hands when it comes to depth at wide receiver. Veteran leaders Michael Pittman Jr. and Tyler Vaughns are set to return to USC in 2019, freshman phenomenon Amon-Ra St. Brown and the speedy Velus Jones Jr. will be catching touchdowns next year as well. Devon Williams is also one to watch next season, as a true freshman in 2018 he recorded one touchdown and 87 yards and at 6-foot-4 will bring added height to the receiver core next year.

On the recruiting front, USC is covered at receiver quite nicely with four-star commits Drake London and Puka Nacua, and three-star Munir McClain headed to campus. While National Signing Day and the early signing period draw near, do not be surprised if the Trojans pick up a couple more elite wide receivers, especially with air raid offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury now a new excitement for current and potential Trojans.