LOS ANGELES — Bru McCoy has dropped his legal action challenging a 2021 emergency order that removed him from the USC campus a few days after a felony domestic violence arrest involving an ex-girlfriend.
McCoy, a talented wide receiver from Santa Ana Mater Dei High, transferred to Tennessee in May. He played for USC as a freshman in 2020 but sat out 2021 because he was barred from campus.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff dismissed the case Tuesday, four days after McCoy made the request in a court filing.
McCoy had filed the legal action in August, stating that the university had no evidence to support its contention that McCoy posed an immediate threat to the physical health or safety of anyone and that his indefinite suspension was not supported by the facts of the case.
USC had kept the suspension in place through the 2021 season even though the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges in August, citing insufficient evidence in a case it referred to as “he said, she said domestic violence.”
McCoy and his accuser met in high school and dated periodically since. The incident that led to his arrest for domestic violence occurred at his off-campus apartment July 24, 2021.
In the woman’s application for a temporary restraining order against McCoy last August, she wrote that McCoy “kicked and punched me multiple times in the ribs, strangled my neck then head butted me in the nose fracturing it, spit in my face repeatedly, pinned me down and used my arms to force me to hit myself in the face and head.”
The assault, she said, resulted in a broken nose, muscle spasms, concussion without consciousness, pleurodynia, a right arm contusion, chronic pansinusitis, head trauma, rib pain and a contusion of the back wall of her thorax, as well as bruises and scratches.
McCoy denied her allegations and his attorneys described her in a November court filing as “a threatening, unpredictable, and violent individual who does not respect Mr. McCoy’s wishes or boundaries.”
USC filed a Title IX complaint against McCoy but dropped it after the woman — who was not a USC student — declined to take part in a hearing and allow the school access to her medical records.
McCoy was the nation’s top-rated recruit in high school and enrolled at USC in the spring of 2019. He transferred to Texas after Trojans offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. McCoy transferred back to USC a few months later and redshirted the 2019 season after enduring a lengthy, mysterious illness.
He made his debut in 2020, making 21 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns in six games of a season abbreviated because of the coronavirus pandemic. His debut came in a 28-27 comeback win over Arizona State in which he caught a touchdown pass tipped by a teammate in the waning minutes then recovered an onside kick that led to the winning scoring drive.
