LOS ANGELES – The NCAA refused to reinstate USC receiver Mike Williams, leaving the All-American unable to rejoin the top-ranked Trojans. Williams, 20, tried to get back on USC’s team after being shut out of the NFL draft by the court system, which backed NFL policy that players must be three years out of high school to enter the league’s draft.

”I’m glad it’s over. Now the team can move forward and I can move forward,” Williams said. ”I’m disappointed. I don’t know yet what I’m going to do.”

The ruling came shortly before the Trojans boarded a plane for Baltimore. They open their season Saturday night against Virginia Tech in Landover, Md. An angry Pete Carroll, USC’s head coach, called the ruling ”very cold and insensitive.”