PSU tailback bolts to USC

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Top tailback Silas Redd has bolted Penn State for Southern California.

The 1,200-yard rusher opted Tuesday to leave a Nittany Lions program facing heavy NCAA sanctions handed down because of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Among the penalties was a four-year postseason ban.

The NCAA gave Penn State players the option to transfer immediately and play for another school this year. Redd visited USC over the weekend and heard coach Lane Kiffin’s pitch to be a key cog for a Trojans team expected to be highly ranked and contend for the Pac-12 title. The junior with the dazzling spin move will have two years of eligibility.

Redd became the second player to leave Penn State for a new program since the sanctions were announced July 23. The other was backup safety Tim Buckley, who joined North Carolina State on Monday.

Penn State said later Tuesday that tight end Kevin Haplea was also no longer with the team. It was unclear where the junior, who started one game last year, was headed.

And then, there is the case of Rob Bolden, the backup quarterback, who was dropped from the roster as well. LSU has shown interest in Bolden, but he’s yet to choose a destination.

But Redd, by far, is the most significant loss. He joins a program that is not unfamiliar with NCAA discipline. The Trojans, too, have been sanctioned by the NCAA — for rules violations committed during the 2004 and ‘05 seasons.