OS ANGELES -- Quarterback Matt Barkley will remain with USC for his senior season, bypassing a potential top-10 selection in April's NFL draft to chase a national championship with the Trojans.
With USC coach Lane Kiffin and his family in attendance, Barkley announced Thursday that while he feels prepared for the NFL, he has more to accomplish with the Trojans. His announcement set off cheers at USC's Heritage Hall and music from the school's marching band.
"This 2012 team has some serious unfinished business to attend to and I plan to play a part in it," Barkley said. "I have firmly decided to forgo the 2012 NFL draft and finish that."
Flanked to his left and right by USC's six Heisman trophies and to his back by a cardinal-and-gold ornamented Christmas tree, the quarterback thanked the hundreds in attendance, his family and his girlfriend before making the announcement.
Barkley also said he spent "considerable time" talking over the decision with former USC athletes, pro athletes and NFL experts. They all "validated" his belief that he was ready to declare for the draft, Barkley said.
But that wasn't enough to convince him to leave.
The lure of a potential BCS bowl game was too much to pass up for a player who had played his last two seasons with no such opportunity. He repeated over and over Thursday that the on-the-field pieces lined up perfectly for his return to school.
"I am not postponing my dream of playing in the NFL just so that I can have one more year of college life," Barkley said. "I am staying because I want to finish what I started."
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior threw for 3,528 yards, 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2011, leading the Trojans to a 10-2 record and a No. 5 overall finish in The Associated Press Top 25.
He was projected by many draft experts as a top-10 pick in April's draft, with most ranking him behind only Stanford's Andrew Luck as the No. 2 quarterback in the country.
Kiffin said at the conclusion of USC's 2011 season last month that the only way Barkley would come back to school would be if he decided to be a "special Trojan" and put the university's interests ahead of his own.
That's what he did Thursday, he said.
"This is a special, special college student-athlete story," Kiffin said. "To be a part of this story is unbelievable for all of us involved."
Barkley is the latest in a heralded lineup of USC quarterbacks that includes Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez.
He had an uneven first season with the Trojans, making some questionable decisions that led to 14 interceptions. Still, Barkley threw for over 2,700 yards and 15 touchdowns to become the only freshman semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback.
Matt Leinart won the Heisman as a USC junior in 2004. But Matt Barkley's 2011 statistics suggest he had an even better junior year than Leinart -- or any other USC quarterback.
Barkley developed into a mature leader by his sophomore season, again throwing for over 2,700 yards, with 26 TDs, a completion rate of 62 percent and 12 interceptions. He also handled questions about USC's sanctions with poise, never shying away from talking about the program's difficulties.
As a junior, he developed into one of the country's best quarterbacks, throwing for 3,528 yards and 39 touchdowns with only seven interceptions on a team that one of the best in the country the last half of the season. The Trojans won seven of their final eight games, though had to endure a second straight bowl-less season thanks to postseason sanctions that end next season.
USC left tackle Matt Kalil declared for the NFL draft last week, but on Wednesday safety T.J. McDonald said he was returning for his senior year. Now with Barkley, the Trojans are loaded and likely one of the front-runners to win next year's national title.
Barkley also will enter next season as the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy -- much the way Luck did when he made a similar decision after the 2010 season -- and can firm up his place as one of the best quarterbacks in the history of a program filled with great ones.
