White, Byrd and Rucker Make the Grade for USC

USC running back LenDale White, tight end Dominique Byrd and defensive lineman Frostee Rucker, who missed spring practice to focus on academic issues, are expected to be eligible in the fall, Coach Pete Carroll said Friday.

White, Rucker and Byrd passed their classes during the spring semester and are attending summer session classes, which began last Monday.

“They all took care of business and did what they had to do,” Carroll said.

Running back Chauncey Washington, a redshirt sophomore who was academically ineligible last season, and redshirt freshman linebacker Michael Stuart are academically ineligible for the fall.

Receiver Whitney Lewis, a redshirt sophomore who was academically ineligible last year, “is going to continue to work to see if he can make it,” Carroll said.

Defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who missed spring practice and would have been academically ineligible, applied for inclusion in the NFL’s supplemental draft, which will be held in July.

Wright is eligible because he is three years removed from high school graduation.

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-- Gary Klein