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USC cornerback Maliki Crawford to enter transfer portal

Erik-McKinneyby:Erik McKinney•03/24/25•

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USC cornerback Maliki Crawford walks out to a practice with the Trojans.
USC cornerback Maliki Crawford walks out to a practice with the Trojans. (Erik McKinney/WeAreSC)

USC cornerback Maliki Crawford announced Monday that he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

This does not come as a surprise as the third-year cornerback was not listed on the USC spring football roster released last week.

“With 4 yrs of eligibility I will be officially entering my name in the NCAA Transfer Portal,” Crawford posted to his X account. “I want to thank the University of Southern California for the experience and growth and will hold my time at USC in high regards. With that said, I’m excited to embark on my next chapter!”

Crawford came to USC as a four-star signee in the 2023 recruiting class. He enrolled early with the Trojans but did not see any action that year. He spent nearly the entire season recovering from injury. His 2024 season was cut short as well. Crawford suffered a season-ending injury during fall camp.

“You know, the only major injury is Maliki Crawford had a season-ending injury a couple of days ago and got that fixed,” Riley said at the time. “Obviously hate that for him but we’ll get him rehabbed, fixed up, and get him back, obviously, next season.”

Crawford did not play in a game during his two years with the Trojans. USC will need to replace virtually all of its starts at cornerback this season as Jaylin Smith, Jacobe Covington, Greedy Vance Jr. and John Humphrey all exhausted their eligibility. The Trojans landed a cornerback transfer out of the portal in former San Jose State starter DJ Harvey, bring back DeCarlos Nicholson and have talented young players in Marcelles Williams and Braylon Conley looking for playing time this season.

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Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)

Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans.

Garry Paskwietz