Sources: Redd leaning toward USC transfer

Updated: July 30, 2012, 4:14 PM ET

ESPN.com news services

Silas Redd Leaning Toward USC

Silas Redd Leaning Toward USC

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Penn State star running back Silas Redd is strongly leaning toward transferring to USC, sources told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Redd left Los Angeles on Monday after spending lots of time with Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receiver Robert Woods over the weekend, according to the sources.

Penn State's leading rusher last season, Redd likely will meet in person with Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien, the sources said.

The NCAA has said players can transfer from Penn State and be eligible immediately after unprecedented sanctions were handed down against the school in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Several Penn State players, including linebacker Michael Mauti and defensive lineman Jordan Hill, publicly announced their support for the embattled program last week and declared that they would not leave the school. But Redd was not among that group of players that gathered Wednesday in State College, Pa.

Redd, who has two years of eligibility remaining, ran for 1,241 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

Redd will sit down with his family Monday night to discuss a potential transfer and could announce his decision as early as Tuesday afternoon, two sources close to Redd told ESPN.com's Josh Moyer.

"They want to go home and then sit down as a family and discuss the pros and cons of both," one source told Moyer.

Any transferred Penn State player who gets a scholarship does not count against another school's scholarship total. However, the NCAA has clarified that a school "subject to scholarship limits due to an infractions case is allowed to accept transfers from Penn State but cannot exceed the scholarship limits specified in its infractions report."

USC, which was sanctioned by the NCAA in 2010 over improper benefits, is at its limit of 75 players, so a spot would have to open up for Redd to transfer to the school. USC believes at least one player will be academically ineligible, opening up a spot for Redd. The backup plan would have a walk-on giving up a scholarship.