Players Are Cautioned About Risky Behavior

With USC football players at the center of two sexual-assault investigations in the last year, Coach Pete Carroll on Monday went outside the program to educate his team on the dangers of making poor decisions.

Lakita Garth, a motivational speaker who encourages abstinence, addressed players about avoiding situations that could put them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases, paternity and false accusations, especially as high-profile athletes. Players said she also covered other issues, including violence against women.

Several players said it was the first time they could recall Carroll bringing in an outside source to specifically address sexually related topics. And they were glad he did.

“It was a wake-up call for anybody to hear,” senior safety Scott Ware said.

Last August, the Los Angeles Police Department investigated an alleged sexual assault that occurred during training camp. No players were arrested because of insufficient evidence.

In March, cornerback Eric Wright was arrested on suspicion of rape, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office did not file charges because of insufficient evidence. Wright left the program in June before he was scheduled to face a school disciplinary panel.

Carroll said Garth’s presentation would raise “awareness of what’s going on and teach our guys some real stuff that they weren’t real clear on.”

Junior receiver Chris McFoy said Garth got through where coaches could not.

“They touched on it but it wasn’t in that detail,” McFoy said. “She was in detail and had a lot of people thinking.”

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Patrick Turner, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound freshman receiver from Tennessee, mainly watched during the first four days of training camp because of a stress fracture in his right heel.

But the latest in USC’s growing line of rangy, out-of-state receivers finally made his debut in team drills.

Turner, wearing the No. 1 jersey previously worn by All-American Mike Williams, caught all four passes thrown his way.

Like the 6-5 Williams, now with the NFL’s Detroit Lions, and 6-5 sophomore Dwayne Jarrett, Turner appears to be another formidable target for Matt Leinart, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.

“He’s a little different than Mike and different than Dwayne athletically,” Carroll said. “The number you see and the height you see, but it’s going to be interesting to see all the range of his ability. It’s going to take us a couple days to get a good sense for where we’re going with it.”

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Former Trojan quarterback Rocky Hinds has enrolled at Nevada Las Vegas. Hinds must sit out this season and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

When Carroll signed Hinds’ release papers in June, he stipulated Hinds could not transfer to another Pacific 10 Conference program or UNLV, which was rumored to have been in contact with the redshirt freshman.

According to a USC official, Hinds won an appeal in front of a USC panel, freeing him to transfer to UNLV.

Wright also is reportedly interested in attending UNLV.

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Running back LenDale White did not practice for the second consecutive day because of an injured toe. Doctors were expected to review White’s X-rays Monday night. He said he hoped to return today or possibly Wednesday when the Trojans will scrimmage for the first time.... Linebacker Kaluka Maiava, safety Will Harris and cornerback Kevin Thomas -- all freshmen -- were late for a meeting Sunday night and spent the entire practice Monday crawling, rolling and pushing or carrying various apparatus along the sideline. “Send a little message to the boys,” Carroll said.... With only a single practice in the morning, Trojan players went bowling in the afternoon before returning to take a team photo. Offensive lineman Fred Matua rolled a team-high 215.