Three USC Starters Suspended for Their Dealings With Agent : College football: Walters, Ifeanyi and Herrin might be able to restore eligibility.

Three USC football starters, one of whom allegedly took thousands of dollars from a sports agent, were declared ineligible by the university Monday, although the school hopes to eventually return them to the playing field.

USC officials took the action after an NCAA and Pacific 10 Conference investigation into the affairs of Shawn Walters, the leading rusher the last two seasons, defensive end Israel Ifeanyi and linebacker Errick Herrin.

They were shown to be linked to Robert Troy Caron, an agent who allegedly paid college athletes to secure them as clients when they turned professional. Caron owns Pro Manage of Oxnard.

The investigation also extended to UCLA and three other Pac-10 schools.

At UCLA, senior linebacker Donnie Edwards will meet Wednesday with Pac-10 officials regarding allegations that he accepted $150 in food from Caron, Edwards said. Athletic Director Peter Dalis and Edwards said they are optimistic the defensive star will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

USC will now seek restoration of its three players’ eligibility through the NCAA eligibility committee, said Robert Lane, university general counsel.

Generally, repayment of the benefit is the first condition of restoration. In some instances, the NCAA will allow an athlete to make restitution on a time schedule before his or her eligibility expires.

According to documents obtained by The Times, Walters, a junior, has been given $15,900 by Caron since last year. Some of the money was delivered by an intermediary, Melvin Nunnery, who lived with Walters. Nunnery is a former USC student who once tried out for the football team.

Lane said not all the payments on a ledger were made to or for Walters. Lane also said Walters said he did not know Nunnery worked for an agent.

“We’re trying to figure out to what extent and what amount were made to or on behalf of Shawn Walters,” he said.

Until the school can determine that, Lane said it was impossible to guess how much Walters will have to repay.

“It won’t be $16,000,” he said.

Walters’ version of events could be challenged because, according to NCAA rules, he should have questioned where the money was coming from if he did not know.

Furthermore, sources familiar with Pro Manage told The Times that Walters was regularly seen at the Oxnard office with Caron.

Ifeanyi and Herrin allegedly received pagers from the agent as well as some other small items. Although their repayment is not expected to be nearly the amount of Walters’, they are facing other issues, sources said.

“It’s a matter of trying to understand all the facts,” Lane said.

Under NCAA rules, a college athlete can lose his or her eligibility if found to have accepted money or other favors from an agent. But in most cases involving agents, the school is not affected by the violations unless the NCAA enforcement staff rules that the institution knew, or should have known, about the incident.

USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett said the school is not worried that it will have to forfeit any games because of the situation. The fifth-ranked Trojans, 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, play California on Saturday.

In other cases involving Pac-10 players allegedly connected to Caron, Arizona, Cal and Oregon State have supported their athletes in reporting to conference officials.

“We deemed them to be eligible,” Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood said of Tedy Bruschi and Richard Dice. “Everything we found was true and consistent with what the kids told us. We’re not going to put these kids or our university in jeopardy. . . . I think it is resolved.”

But both players were on a Pro Manage phone list, obtained by The Times, with the three USC players and others around the country. Sources indicated every player on the list received something.

Cal Athletic Director John Kasser said he found no wrongdoing by senior wide receiver Iheanyi Uwaezuoke.

“His name is on a phone list and there is nothing more to it,” Kasser said.

Oregon State reported it supported Reggie Tongue’s explanation that he is not linked to Caron. Tongue also was on the list, which one of Caron’s intermediaries in North Carolina described as a wish list.

Utah said it is confident that basketball player Brandon Jessie did nothing wrong.

The Times reported last week that Caron gave Jessie a pager.

Staff writer Steve Springer contributed to this story.