Williams going back to USC, but no word on playing status

LOS ANGELES -- Wide receiver Mike Williams is enrolled at Southern California for summer school, but there's no word from the NCAA on whether he will be allowed to play college football next season.

Williams, who was kept out of the NFL Draft by the courts, starts school next week, school spokesman Tim Tessalone said Thursday.

But Tessalone said the university hasn't heard from the NCAA on Williams' status.

"It's ultimately the NCAA's decision," he said.

Williams said the classes were more important than football.

"I really would hate to go out there and just be gung-ho football and then the NCAA comes knocking two or three weeks later, and the next thing you know they bagged the whole deal," Williams said in a radio interview on KMPC.

The All-America sophomore left USC shortly after the spring semester began.

He hired an agent and followed Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett in declaring his eligibility for the NFL draft after a federal judge ruled that younger players could turn pro.

But that ruling was stayed, and the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City decided May 24 that the NFL has the right to determine when players can enter the league.

The NFL bars players from turning pro until they are three years out of high school, and Clarett and Williams each have been out of high school for just two years.

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