Booty Decides to Come Early

Louisiana high school quarterback John David Booty is expected to announce today that he will bypass his senior season and enroll at USC in the fall.

“It’s the kind of a thing where he just needed time to make sure all this was properly done, but everything is coming up great,” his father, John Booty, said Tuesday.

Booty, 6 feet 3 1/2 and 200 pounds, passed for nearly 4,000 yards last season as a junior and led Evangel Christian Academy of Shreveport, La., to its second consecutive Division 5-A state title. He is regarded as perhaps the nation’s top prep player in the Class of 2004.

Booty, who needs to complete one English class to graduate, made a commitment to USC last month. He originally planned to play his senior season at Evangel Christian, then graduate at the semester and enroll at USC next spring.

The timetable changed when his father, who helped found the Evangel Christian program in 1989, was relieved of his position as quarterbacks coach by the school chancellor last Friday.

Gail Dent, an NCAA spokesperson, said Booty would be eligible as a freshman if he completed required high school core courses, graduated from high school, received a qualifying score on a scholastic assessment test and is certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Booty has spent the last two days meeting with high school counselors. He is expected to complete coursework during the summer and enroll at USC in August.

NCAA rules forbid college coaches from commenting publicly about recruits until they receive signed letters of intent or athletes enroll in school.

Booty probably would be given the opportunity to compete against redshirt sophomore Matt Leinart, redshirt junior Matt Cassel, junior transfer Brandon Hance and redshirt sophomore Billy Hart to replace Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer. USC opens its season Aug. 30 at Auburn.

Leinart, who started a scrimmage at the end of spring practice and will enter fall training camp with a slight edge over the others, said he would welcome Booty’s presence ahead of schedule.

“You always have to compete, and you can’t worry about other guys and what they are doing,” Leinart said. “It’s a chance for him to come in and get some experience and compete. It would be tough for anyone to come in and learn the system in three weeks, but I know he’s a good player.”