Bru McCoy: Court documents reveal answers to the former five-star's USC suspension, departure

Bru McCoy originally joined USC expecting to become the next in a long line of elite wide receivers to suit-up for the Trojans. While it was known some off-field trouble contributed to his eventual departure from the program, McCoy’s name popped back up in the limelight after he announced his decision to take his talents to Tennessee earlier this month.

Now, court filings siphoned through by the Los Angeles Times have provided some clarity to a murky picture. While it was known that McCoy’s departure from USC stemmed from an arrest on suspicion of felony partner intimate violence with injury, the wide receiver was never charged with a crime.

According to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, the publications examined “hundreds of pages” of court documents trying to find answers. They found what they were looking for, but some of the findings are stressful to read through.

“After a night out in West Hollywood with his sister, McCoy and Chris Steele, a fellow USC football player, arrived back at the off-campus residence they shared with four other football players after 3 a.m. on July 24, 2021,” wrote Kartje. “McCoy’s ex-girlfriend, according to his testimony, was waiting for him inside the residence when he returned.

“The two met three years earlier and dated while McCoy was a student at Mater Dei. That relationship, described by several sources in court filings as ‘on-again, off-again,’ had since turned tumultuous.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, USC Department of Public Safety officers responded to two calls within a week stemming from arguments between the former USC wide receiver and the woman in January 2020.

“The first of those DPS reports, from Jan. 12, lists McCoy as the reporting party for a misdemeanor vandalism incident that resulted in damage to USC property,” wrote Kartje. “The other, which was reported by a neighbor, lists him as the victim of a domestic incident. The former incident, along with a fight involving McCoy at a fraternity party, would later be cited by USC as evidence of McCoy’s escalating violence that justified his suspension.”

However, Kartje wrote that the police were not called for to respond to an incident on July 24, and they didn’t get involved until McCoy’s ex-girlfriend sought treatment at an Urgent Care.

“Police, however, were not called to respond July 24. It wasn’t until 5:30 p.m., later that day, after McCoy’s ex-girlfriend sought treatment at United Urgent Care in Carson, that LAPD officers arrived at McCoy’s residence to arrest him on suspicion of domestic violence,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “He was released six hours later on a $50,000 bond.”

Now, Kartje wrote that many of the details from the aforementioned incident are still in dispute, but the Los Angeles Times obtained a copy of the woman’s application for a temporary restraining order against McCoy.

“In her August application for a temporary restraining order against McCoy, which was obtained by The Times, his ex-girlfriend 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,” wrote Kartje.

“She later confirmed to USC officials, as part of their risk assessment, that she suffered the injuries, which required surgery, during an altercation with McCoy.”

Since, Bru McCoy has wholeheartedly disavowed the allegations. According to the Los Angeles Times, the former USC star tried to cast doubt on her credibility, describing her in a court filing as “a threatening, unpredictable, and violent individual who does not respect Mr. McCoy’s wishes or boundaries.”

Due to a myriad of incidents, McCoy was investigated over the course of six months due to a Title IX complaint filed against the wide receiver. Fighting through courts and with months going by without any resolution, McCoy finally gave up hope he would ever be able to return to USC.

Then, on February 15, the Los Angeles Times reported that USC “informed McCoy his case would be dismissed after his ex-girlfriend told USC she would not cooperate in a hearing as part of the Title IX resolution process and would revoke her consent for the school to access her medical records.”

“The about-face came soon after her restraining order was upheld by the court in January. The order stipulates that McCoy cease any contact and stay at least 100 yards away from her through Jan. 28, 2023. He was also ordered by the court to pay $40,000 for expenses caused by the abuse as well as $30,000 to cover her legal fees.”

Instead of attempting to remain at the program he once called his dream school, the wide receiver opted to enter the transfer portal. On May 3, his saga seemingly came to an end, when the former USC wide receiver announced he was joining Tennessee via the transfer portal.

According to an interview Bru McCoy did with VolQuest.com via the Los Angeles Times, the wide receiver was smitten by the way the Volunteers take care of their players.

“They’re doing things the right way here,” McCoy said. “They’re taking care of players the right way, they’re taking care of the off-the-field — everything you could want out of a school.”

Coming out of high school, Bru McCoy was a five-star prospect according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. He ranked as the No. 3 wide receiver in the country and the No. 2 player in California.