USC cornerback Josh Shaw admitted to school officials that he had fabricated a story about rescuing a nephew from drowning and lied about how he suffered ankle injuries, the school announced Wednesday.
Shaw, who has been the focus of controversy the last two days, was suspended from the team indefinitely.
"We are extremely disappointed in Josh," USC Coach Steve Sarkisian said in a statement. "He let us all down. As I have said, nothing in his background led us to doubt him when he told us of his injuries, nor did anything after our initial vetting of his story."
Shaw issued a statement through attorney Donald Etra, who the school said had been retained by the player as legal counsel.
On Saturday, August 23, 2014, I injured myself in a fall. I made up a story about this fall that was untrue. I was wrong to not tell the truth. I apologize to USC for this action on my part.
My USC coaches, the USC Athletic Department, and especially Coach Sarkisian have all been supportive of me during my college career and for that, I am very grateful.
The school said Shaw had apologized for misleading his coaches, teammates, athletic department officials and the public.
I appreciate that Josh has now admitted that he lied and has apologized, Sarkisian said. Although this type of behavior is out of character for Josh, it is unacceptable. Honesty and integrity must be at the center of our program. I believe Josh will learn from this. I hope that he will not be defined by this incident, and that the Trojan Family will accept his apology and support him.
