When heralded Penn State running back Silas Redd took a recruiting trip to the USC campus over the weekend, one of the people he met was backup center Abe Markowitz.
Redd, we’re told, took a long look at the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Markowitz and said he’d look forward to following his blocks.
The irony wasn’t lost on the Markowitz family of Honolulu, whose son could end up opening not just running room but a scholarship for the highly sought Redd.
Redd announced Tuesday he will play for USC this year, which means, due to their own NCAA-imposed aid limitations, the Trojans are scrambling to find a scholarship for him. And unless one becomes available by other means, Markowitz, a Punahou School graduate, is one of USC’s former walk-ons who could have theirs rescinded.
No small consideration at a school where the cost of attendance runs approximately $59,883 per year.
Clearly this isn’t the way the Markowitz family imagined their son’s season — one that begins with a Sept. 1 game against Hawaii — unfolding.
"I honestly don’t know what would happen if it works out that his scholarship isn’t renewed," Abe’s father, Barry, said.
But while there is concern and even consternation, remarkably there is no anger over the 11th-hour drama. At least none directed at USC or its head coach, Lane Kiffin. The NCAA is another matter, however.
"He (Abe) called me Tuesday and he is absolutely committed to the Trojans," Barry said. "Despite the way things look right now, our family really trusts in Lane Kiffin. We trust that he’s doing what is right for the university and think he’s got a good heart and is trying to do what’s right for my son and the young men who are former walk-ons."
They appreciate that Kiffin prized their son’s dedication and ability enough to reward his tenacity with a scholarship in 2010 and stuck with him through injuries. They understood then, as now, that scholarships are renewable on an annual basis. They grasp that the coach is charged with doing what is best for the team and his options are limited by USC’s own enduring NCAA restrictions.
In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State players became free agents last week, able to transfer immediately. Because of the late date, the schools that sought them are allowed to roll back the NCAA mandated maximum of 85 scholarships for a year.
Unless, that is, they are still under NCAA sanction themselves as is the case with USC, which must operate under a limit of 75 scholarships through 2014 due to the restrictions imposed in the Reggie Bush case.
"I don’t know why the NCAA has to punish these guys who were in intermediate school at the time," Barry said.
All of which could leave the Trojans with some tough decisions to make unless their remaining freshman recruit fails to qualify for admittance or delays entry. Speculation has been that one of three walk-ons who have previously been granted scholarships — Markowitz, and linebackers Will Andrew and Tony Burnett — would be where USC turns. A school spokesman said he didn’t know, "how the scholarships will shake out."
In the meantime, Barry said, "Our family motto is ‘in Lane Kiffin we trust.’ "
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
