USC cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson enters NCAA transfer portal
USC cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson entered the NCAA transfer portal on Sunday. The veteran cornerback is part of the group of former junior college players who received an extra year of eligibility following the lawsuit brought by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound cornerback came to USC last year as a transfer from Mississippi State. He played in all 13 games for the Trojans, recording starts against Maryland, Rutgers and Washington. Nicholson finished the season with 27 tackles and five passes defended.
While Nicholson didn’t grab a starting spot out of the gate, he played well over the course of the season for the Trojans and became a very solid locker room presence for USC.
He is the 22nd USC player to enter the transfer portal this offseason and the second from the defensive secondary. Safety Zion Branch also left the program and is now at Georgia. Nicholson was expected to have just one year of eligibility with the Trojans when the season began and now he is officially part of a near-complete overhaul in the secondary.
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Safety Kamari Ramsey returns as a big piece of the 2025 defensive backfield. But veteran safeties Akili Arnold and Bryson Shaw are out of eligibility. The aforementioned Branch is gone. Starting nickel Greedy Vance Jr. and cornerbacks Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington are out of eligibility as well. Now, backup cornerbacks John Humphrey and Nicholson are out as well.
USC did add veteran cornerback DJ Harvey out of the transfer portal from San Jose State. If he winds up being the only addition, we could see a youth movement at the position this spring and fall. Second-year players Marcelles Williams and Braylon Conley received positive reviews throughout last season for their work during practices, but neither got many game reps. Some incoming true freshmen in Alex Graham, Trestin Castro and James Johnson could make some noise. Veteran defensive back Prophet Brown is scheduled to return and third-year player Maliki Crawford has dealt with injury throughout his USC career but is talented when healthy.
