The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Riley addresses notion of potential Trojans collective
LOS ANGELES » This week, a group of USC alumni and donors announced their intentions to start Student Body Right, a Name, Image and Likeness collective that would provide some amount of financial compensation to USC football players.
Any sort of payments are a future consideration as Student Body Right continues to form its plan moving forward.
Collectives have been a tricky subject in the college football recruiting world, with some schools being accused of using payments as inducements to land the commitments of blue-chip recruits.
USC has tried to stay out of such potential NCAA violations, despite little enforcement of NIL rules by college athletics’ governing body. Instead, USC partnered with BLVD, LLC, which is an NIL agency that helps players secure sponsorship deals and grow their social media presences.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley shared his thoughts on the Student Body Right initiative after practice on Friday, expressing hope that all parties could work together in USC’S best interest.
“I think we’ve had a lot of signs internally that people want to support our program and are excited about what’s going on here. So I think that that notion, we’re not surprised of,” Riley said. “We very much believe in the BLVD concept, not only for what it can do for our student-athletes but also making sure that we stay within the rules and having people that have been in this business and are experts in this field is very, very important to us.
“Listen, this is new to all of us. It’s still evolving all kinds of places all over the country and I’m confident that we will be able to bring everyone together and make sure it’s one, united effort.”
Foreman sidelined
USC rush edge Korey Foreman was on the sidelines without a helmet with an injury during Friday’s practice, after returning from a “previous commitment” that kept him away from training camp for several days.
Riley did not specify what was plaguing Foreman, but said he expects the sophomore back in the near future.
Riley was asked if there was concern over the amount of time Foreman has missed, given the fact that Foreman, a former top recruit who saw little playing time as a freshman, missed much of spring practice with an injury.
“Yeah, but that’s anybody out here,” Riley said. “Whether a guy’s played 1,000 snaps or played 15 snaps, you gotta keep getting better and you gotta keep improving. So is it a concern for Korey missing that? Sure, but I want to make a point that it’s not because it’s Korey.”
Wolfe needs surgery
Tight end Jude Wolfe missed the start of camp with a foot injury, walking around the sidelines in a boot. On Friday he was riding a scooter around practice before Riley announced the redshirt junior would require surgery. Riley said Wolfe will miss the first portion of the season, with the hope he will return for the second half.
Wolfe played in 11 games with one start last season, making eight catches for 56 yards. A broken foot suffered in 2020 kept him out of the 2021 spring camp and he dealt with a back injury that limited him in 2019.