Freshman safety Antwine Perez has decided to leave the program and transfer schools.

This former Rivals.com four-star athlete left Woodrow Wilson high school in New Jersey a semester early and joined the Trojans in the spring. Perez played in seven games and recorded three tackles in his first season at USC.

Perez was impressive back in the spring, showing great speed to go along with his impressive physique. He worked his way into the rotation, playing on the first and second team defense from the moment he arrived on campus.

When Josh Pinkard went down with a season ending knee injury, it looked as if Perez would earn more playing time. But the emergence of freshman Taylor Mays made cracking the starting lineup close to impossible for Perez, limiting his contributions to special teams.

The soft spoken Perez was far from home and behind in the depth chart. He always did his duty at practice, but he never appeared to be in very high spirits.

USCFootball.com got word on Monday that Perez had actually left the program, and secondary coach Rocky Seto confirmed that report after Tuesday's practice.

Apparently Minnesota is a possible destination for Perez, the same school some thought defensive lineman Walker Lee Ashley would to transfer to. Ashley told reporters this week he was not transferring.