Steve Sarkisian says Josh Shaw could ‘potentially’ return to team

USC cornerback Josh Shaw, who was suspended indefinitely for lying about the cause of his recent ankle injuries, could “potentially” return to the Trojans this season, USC Coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.

“Obviously, there are some things that have to take place,” Sarkisian said, adding, “When the time’s right, if the time’s right to bring him back, we will.”

Shaw admitted to USC officials that he fabricated a story about leaping from a balcony and saving a distressed nephew in a swimming pool in Palmdale on Saturday night after he had attended USC’s annual “Salute to Troy” event on campus.

Shaw hired an attorney, Donald Etra, who said that Shaw fell from a balcony at the Orsini complex.

“There’s absolutely no criminal aspect to this at all,” Etra said Wednesday.

Los Angeles Police Department officials have said that Shaw’s name appeared in a police report in connection with an incident Saturday night at the Orsini apartment complex near downtown. Police say Shaw is not a suspect in any crime. However, an LAPD official said authorities were attempting to work through USC to speak with Shaw and his girlfriend.

Sarkisian said that when Shaw met with USC officials on Wednesday, his attorney was present and Shaw did not tell them how he was injured.

“We weren’t privy to ask,” Sarkisian said.

The decision to suspend Shaw indefinitely rather than for a set length time was made because of ongoing investigations, he said.

“There’s still different authorities on campus and off campus looking at some stuff,” he said.

Sarkisian reiterated that USC regretted posting a story about Shaw’s alleged heroics on its website on Monday. The story started a frenzy of publicity that took a turn after USC received calls from people contradicting Shaw’s story.

“It has as much to do with me as anyone else,” Sarkisian said of the story’s release. “Moving forward, we’ll be a little more patient.

“I just felt like the last thing we needed was Josh Shaw rolling around in a wheelchair and everybody saying, ‘What happened? We tried to get front of it and it didn’t work out for us.”

Asked if it was his idea to release the story publicly, he said, “It was everybody involved.”