McClain’s family seeking explanation for ban by USC

USC wide receiver Munir McClain was on his way to an early morning workout Sept. 18 when he was told that coach Clay Helton needed to speak with him in his office.

Two days earlier, Michael Blanton, USC’s vice president of professionalism and ethics, had called McClain to question what he knew about unemployment benefits from California’s Employment Development Department. Their conversation took place over two phone calls, and McClain went to physical therapy in between.

In his office that Friday morning, Helton informed the sophomore wide receiver that he was being suspended. McClain still would be able to attend class, receive stipends and meals, rehabilitate his surgically repaired anterior cruciate ligament, and receive coronavirus testing from the university. But he would remain away from the football team until further notice.

A month later, two federal agents were at McClain’s dormitory door and subpoenas were being issued for other USC football players in conjunction with a fraud probe. But as questions swirl around the nature of that investigation and McClain’s role in the eyes of investigators, the specific cause for his suspension from USC’s football team remains unclear. In a news conference in front of Galen Center on Sunday, his mother, Shan McClain, and Najee Ali, a local civil rights activist, said no specific explanation had been given.

“If Munir has done something wrong, please tell him what it is,” Shan said.

Around 8 a. m. on Sept. 18, Helton had called Shan to inform her of the suspension. But in that call too, few details were offered. According to Shan, Helton said he had received a call from Blanton late the night before. Any questions she had about the suspension, Helton told her, should be directed to Blanton.

So Shan called Blanton, who asked whether she had spoken to her son. Eventually, Blanton would tell her that a complaint was received about USC students being approached to f ile for EDD aid. An investigation was opened, and Munir’s name had come up.

“I said, ‘ OK, is that why he’s suspended?’ ” Shan recalled to The Times in a phone interview Monday. Blanton redirected her inquiries to Helton.

Shan maintains she has not been told what sort of violation triggered her son’s suspension, but USC disputed that assertion Sunday in a university statement.

“USC has spoken about this matter with Munir McClain and his mother Shan McClain,” the statement read. “We will not discuss those conversations out of respect for student privacy and due to the pending investigation.”

Asked Monday whether it was protocol for an athlete under university inquiry to be suspended, Helton declined to comment.

The protocols followed to decide McClain’s fate are still unclear. An NCAA spokesperson told The Times that NCAA rules do not cover unemployment benefits. When asked Monday for specifics, the university declined to comment.

Blanton’s office, created in 2018, is tasked with monitoring complaints and handling investigations.

According to the website for USC’s Office of Professionalism and Ethics, any results of an investigation conducted by the office are sent to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards.

A page describing the off ice’s “Post- Investigation Process” says the OPE “guarantees a battery of procedural protections for students” under such investigations.

That degree of transparency has not been afforded to McClain, his family or his legal representation.