The end of the Josh Shaw saga was one that no one wanted to see, though it seemed like the only one possible after USC so quickly and violently distanced itself from him on Tuesday. He made the whole thing up.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian minced no words in his response. "We are extremely disappointed in Josh. 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," Sarkisian said. "Although this type of behavior is out of character for Josh, it is unacceptable."
According to David Leon Moore of USA Today, USC officials doubted Shaw's story originally, with the sports information department and other athletics department officials spending "hours talking to Shaw and others in an attempt to vet the story," but could find anything to discredit it. Because Shaw was a team captain and highly respected by the people at USC, they ran with it.
One has to wonder why USC threw itself so strongly behind the story, with Sarkisian calling it "a heroic act" and saying it was an example of "the kind of person he is", if they had such serious doubts about the story, but that's a question athletics director Pat Haden is likely asking his staff right now.
Shaw has hired a lawyer, although that lawyer has stated, "there is no criminal aspect to this whatsoever." So, there's that.
USC has suspended Shaw indefinitely, but there is the immediate and all-too-real fact of Shaw's two sprained ankles that have to be dealt with before a return to the field can even become possible.