AXON DENIED ADMISSION TO USC OVER GRADES, ARREST

The University of South Carolina has decided that one of its top football recruits just isn’t worth the trouble.

The school announced Monday that heavily-touted running back Ben Axon of Bradenton, Fla., had been denied admission to USC for poor grades and a May arrest.

Although he was academically eligible to become a Gamecock — barely — Axon’s recent arrest for possession of 23 bags of marijuana during a traffic stop likely played a part in the four-star recruit getting the boot.

Surprisingly, head coach Steve Spurrier took the disheartening news rather well.

“He just wasn’t admitted. And as coaches, we understand why he wasn’t admitted,” Spurrier told The State newspaper. “There’s a lot of players all over the country that are NCAA qualifiers, that universities don’t admit. So we understand that. I don’t want to go into all the reasons, but that happens sometimes.”

Axon had originally committed to rival Clemson, but changed his mind in October 2008 and said he wanted to become a Gamecock.

Both Purdue and West Virginia have expressed interest in Axon.