USC football: Pat Haden and Matt Barkley react to NCAA decision on sanctions

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USC Athletic Director Pat Haden and quarterback Matt Barkley just met with the media to discuss the NCAA’s decision to deny USC’s appeal of sanctions.

The NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee announced Thursday that it had upheld all penalties, including a two-year bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships over three years. USC had asked the committee to reduce those penalties by half, which would have meant a one-year bowl ban (already served) and the loss of 15 scholarships.

Haden said USC would not pursue a lawsuit.

Here is some of what Haden said:

--’Clearly I’m very disappointed, but I’m not surprised.’

--’I think the appeals committee is a fair-minded group of folks. We just vehemently disagree with the result.’

--’I think we need to have a better relationship with the NCAA.’

--On competing with 75 scholarships: ‘I think we can be competitive.’

--On Coach Lane Kiffin: ‘He’s going to have challenges that other coaches haven’t had here.’

Here is some of what Barkley said:

--’This is not uncharted territory for us, for this team.’

--On the possibility of seniors leaving: ‘Haven’t heard anything. That doesn’t mean guys aren’t thinking about it.’

I’ll have more later at latimes.com/sports.

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-- Gary Klein