USC cornerback Josh Shaw admitted to school officials on Wednesday that
the story involving him saving his nephew from drowing in a pool was completely fabricated.
"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 aplogize to USC for this action on my part," Shaw said in a statement released by his lawyer. "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."
"We are extremely disappointed in Josh," head coach Steve Sarkisian said in a school 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.
"I appreciate that Josh has now admitted that he lied and has apologized. 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."
Sarkisian suspended Shaw -- who was named a team captain on Saturday -- indefinitely from all team activities.
