USC Freshman Guard Brown Is Ruled Ineligible Over Classes

USC freshman basketball guard James Brown was ruled ineligible Tuesday after the NCAA ruled that he did not complete the required 13 core courses at Compton Dominguez and Long Beach Poly high schools.

Brown, who transferred to Dominguez from Long Beach Poly before his senior year, was taking classes at USC while the Trojans appealed the NCAA ruling.

“It’s unfortunate for James and his family because they were counting on him to be a USC student and for him to contribute to our basketball program,” USC Coach Charlie Parker said. “Now, the best scenario for him is for him to enroll and play at a junior college and then come back to USC.”

The NCAA ruled that two of Brown’s biology classes at Dominguez and Poly were similar in content and that only one of the courses counted toward his 13 core courses.

“The problem is that he was advised by Dominguez officials to take the class,” Parker said. “After the NCAA ruling, he is now one science course short and we cannot do anything because we cannot take partial qualifiers.”

Brown, who has not practiced with the Trojans this fall, averaged 14.7 points per game last season for Dominguez.