USC Athletics, Pechanga Resort and Casino announce official sponsorship agreement
In what is being described as the first agreement of its kind in California, Pechanga and the University of Southern California announced a new sponsorship agreement that establishes a “university-tribal education alliance and creates an annual scholarship fund,” per a press release from USC.
In the agreement, the Pechanga Resort Casino has been designated as the official resort and casino of the USC Trojans and the official partner of USC athletics. The partnership differs from other Pac-12 schools and California casinos and tribes with the formation of the education alliance.
“We are very excited about the scholarship fund and the opportunity to establish and deepen a formal relationship between the tribe and the university,” said Mark Macarro, Tribal Chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. “This partnership will result in new and meaningful enrichment opportunities for Native youth.”
Jaxson Dart: The future of USC football
Perhaps the most promising piece of USC’s campaign was the play of uber-talented freshman signal-caller Jaxson Dart. Unfortunately, Dart will be out for an extended period of time. He underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee earlier this week, according to The Athletic.
Dart was rated as a five-star prospect by On3 coming out of Corner Canyon High School (Utah). He was rated as the second-best quarterback in America by On3 and the No. 6 overall prospect in America for the 2021 recruiting class.
Dart was surgical with his spirals all afternoon long against Washington State and even set the USC record for passing yardage in his debut. He diced up the Cougars’ secondary for 391 passing yards, while tossing in four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Check out one of the beautiful spirals he tossed against Washington State.
Single vertical eye-black for Dart
Dart revealed after the Washington State game why he wears his eye-black in a unique way, one single line vertically on his eye.
“Oh yeah, it’ll definitely continue. I started it in high school,” Dart said. “I saw a LSU DB have it one time and I was like, man that looks really cool. And then, I’m a big Star Wars guy…Me and my friends kind of change into Anakin Skywalker. He’s got the scar. And so now, I just go out there and kind of just correlate to Anakin Skywalker (Laughs).”
Dart was the national Gatorade Player of the Year in high school.