May 11, 2011

USC athletics will host the second annual student-athlete graduation ceremony Thursday (May 12) at Galen Center and a webcast will air LIVE at USCTrojans.com at 2 p.m. (PDT) here. It is free to watch.

Of the approximately 150 graduating student-athletes expected to participate in the ceremony, women's golfer Lizette Salas, men's water polo player J.W. Krumpholz and former football All-American Tim McDonald will deliver commencement speeches.

Salas has an amazing story to tell about learning the game from her father who was a machinist on a golf course and then growing into an All-American. Krumpholz exhausted his water polo eligibility but decided to finish his degree in lieu of signing a professional contract.

As we detailed earlier this spring, Tim McDonald returned to USC after a successful NFL career to get his degree alongside his son T.J.

Plus, former student-athletes Gordon Marshall, the namesake of the Marshall School of Business, and Louis Zamperini, whose tales of World War II heroism are detailed in the best-selling book Unbroken, will receive the inaugural "Legend of Troy" awards.