What’s Next for Claiborne After Butkus?

For once, it was Chris Claiborne who was left in suspense.

For a second or two here Friday night at the Butkus Award ceremony, all the wondering and nervousness wasn’t about his much-anticipated decision whether to skip his senior season.

It was about whether he was about to become the first Pacific 10 winner of the Butkus--and the USC junior middle linebacker’s heart began to pound.

No Trojan linebacker had been a Butkus finalist before this season, not even Junior Seau.

“This is one he really wanted,” said Claiborne’s brother, Adrian, who joined him on the trip, along with Trojan linebackers coach Shawn Slocum. “From the time they announced [he was a finalist], he wanted this bad. He was nervous, he was worried.”

Then Claiborne’s name was announced as the winner, edging Texas A&M; senior Dat Nguyen by a single first-place vote (out of 27 from a media panel)--the closest voting in the 14-year history of the award, presented annually to the best linebacker in college football by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando.

Florida junior Jevon Kearse placed a distant third.

“I got here and I’m in Gatorworld,” Claiborne said. “And Dat has been doing very good. . . . I was very surprised. I’m happy I get to bring it back to the West Coast.”

Said Adrian: “I think now he feels complete somewhat.”

After the announcement, Claiborne relaxed, celebrated, and then the stay-or-go questions came again.

“I think [winning the Butkus] allows me to have a new challenge,” Claiborne said. “It’s a new challenge to step up again next year and put up better numbers.

“It’s great to be a junior and have a chance to try to prove it all over again.”

Next year, at USC or as a potential top 10 NFL selection?

“I’m loving college,” Claiborne said with an unreadable smile. “I’m having a good time. I have until January to decide. But you only get to do college once.”

What more does he have to accomplish as a Trojan?

“Well, we’ve got national championship hopes,” Claiborne said. “We’ve got R. Jay Soward coming back. We have a schedule we can win a lot of games next year. We have a good quarterback.”