Dillon Baxter is dropped from USC football program

Ballyhooed tailback Dillon Baxter is no longer part of USC’s football program and is focusing on academic issues, Coach Lane Kiffin announced Tuesday.

After practice, Kiffin refused to answer questions about what specifically led to the sophomore’s removal from the team and whether Baxter could return.

“We’re focused on the guys that are here,” the coach said.

Baxter did not return phone calls or text messages seeking comment.

The San Diego Mission Bay High star made occasional strides toward earning a significant role at USC but ultimately wound up buried on the depth chart. He had only nine carries this season, did not play against Arizona and California and said he was absent from an Oct. 16 practice to attend to matters pertaining to the birth of a son due in January.

Problems other than academics contributed to stifling his career with the Trojans.

Last week, he did not accompany the Trojans to Notre Dame, and Kiffin refused to address the reason for his absence before or after USC’s victory.

“Our team has had great focus our last couple weeks on the road and the last thing we want to do is get distracted,” Kiffin said Tuesday as USC began preparing for Saturday’s game against unbeaten Stanford.

Baxter made more news off the field than on it.

In the summer of 2010, he alleged he had been contacted by coaches at other schools after the NCAA announced sanctions against USC. That resulted in former athletic director Mike Garrett’s writing letters of apology to counterparts at other universities.

Later that fall, Baxter was suspended for the season opener at Hawaii for a series of missteps. Some were related to class attendance, but an incident in the training camp dorm that allegedly involved marijuana ultimately led to Kiffin’s keeping Baxter at home.

Since then, it had been an uphill struggle for Baxter, who spoke repeatedly of maturing and learning from his mistakes.

He drew another one-game suspension midway through his freshman season after accepting a ride on a golf cart from a student who was a sports agent. The player who produced a state-record 79 touchdowns during his final high school season finished his freshman season at USC with 252 yards rushing and one touchdown.

Player and coach hoped for a better performance in 2011.

“He’s not the first guy to come in and make mistakes as a freshman,” Kiffin said last spring.

Before training camp opened last summer, Baxter said, “A lot of things have changed. Everything that happened with me last year had to do with growing up.”

Baxter seemed to be making strides with several weeks of solid, all-out efforts during training camp.

But after he played sparingly in the opener against Minnesota, Baxter and his family met with Kiffin to discuss his role with the Trojans.

Quick hits

Receiver Robert Woods did not practice because of unspecified injuries. “He’s got a couple of them,” Kiffin said. Wood is expected to play Saturday. … Kicker Andre Heidari, who suffered an ankle injury against Notre Dame, said he would resume kicking Wednesday. … Woods and quarterback Matt Barkley were among several players who wore demo jerseys to test a waterproof fabric.

gary.klein@latimes.com

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