Sophomore wide receiver Devon Williams has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to SEC Network's Cole Cubelic. TrojanSports.com has confirmed the news.
After not playing in the season opener, Williams had just 1 catch for 11 yards Saturday against Stanford. This after a strong spring and preseason from the 6-foot-4 wideout.
Williams flashed his potential late last season, filling in for injured starter Michael Pittman at Oregon State and catches 3 passes for 77 yards and a 41-yard touchdown. He had only one other catch all season, though.
USC coaches had said there would be a heavy receiver rotation in this new Air Raid offense, but Pittman, Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown dominated the snaps in the season opener. The ball spread around a little more against Stanford, with freshman Drake London (3 catches for 62 yards), freshman Munir McClain (2 catches for 10 yards and Williams getting some opportunity.
But it apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the sophomore, after logging just 10 snaps through two weeks.
The timing of the decision to enter the transfer portal is odd, though, as he won't be able to play anywhere else this fall and with Pittman (and potentially Vaughns) leaving after this year he'd seem in prime position for a key role in USC's pass-happy attack in 2020 -- if not later this season if any injuries arise.
"Devon's my guy so I have love for Dev. He's got to make the best decision for him," USC outside linebacker Hunter Echols said. "It's hard when you leave the team, especially because I know he loves us, I know he loves the players here at USC, he loves the coaches. But he's got to do the best thing for him, and if being at USC is not the best thing for him I support him 100 percent. ...
"I talked to him. That's my guy so I talked to him. Obviously, I encouraged him to stay, but if USC's not the place for him then I want to support him whatever he wants to do."
Williams was a 4-star prospect and the No. 47 overall recruit in the 2018 class.
Pittman (12 catches for 110 yards this season) is a senior, while Vaughns (16-256-1 TD) is a redshirt junior who will have to make a decision on his future. St. Brown (13-135-2) will be back next year, presumably along with veteran Velus Jones and 2019 freshmen London, McClain, John Jackson III and Kyle Ford and Bru McCoy. Ford, a highly-rated 4-star WR who is near the end of his recovery from ACL surgery, and McCoy, a 5-star prospect who has been out with illness since the summer, have not played yet.
USC also has 4-star WR Joshua Jackson (Narbonne HS) committed in the 2020 class and is looking to add more at the position.
Williams would be able to take a redshirt this season and have three years of eligibility remaining if he remains in the portal and indeed opts to leave. USC, of course, has had other players enter the portal and return to the roster. Defensive back Greg Johnson reversed his decision in a matter of days in the spring, while wide receiver Velus Jones and quarterback Matt Fink returned this summer after longer periods in the portal.
USC coach Clay Helton has said he evaluates every transfer portal case individually.
Echols also flirted with leaving briefly during the offseason before quickly changing his mind. He hopes that Williams might have the same reversal.
"I made an emotional decision earlier this year and I wanted to hit the portal and leave, but this is my family, it's where I want to be. Hopefully he realizes this is his family and this is where he wants to be. He's a young kid, he's only a sophomore, he'll be all right, he'll be fine. If he does stay here, I'll be, 'Let's go, let's do it.' But if he decides to go somewhere else, I'm going to always support him -- that's my friend," Echols said.
"If he leaves I wouldn't be surprised, if he stays I wouldn't be surprised. I know he loves USC, I know that he knows he can ball here, so it's just up to him to make his decision."
