Joe McKnight, Damian Williams are leaving USC for the NFL

Tailback Joe McKnight and Damian Williams, USC’s star receiver, said Friday they would forgo their final season of college and make themselves available for the NFL draft.

“It’s my first healthy season, and it’s time for me to go,” McKnight, a junior, said in a brief telephone interview.

Williams, a fourth-year junior, made his announcement in a news release sent out by USC. In it, he said, “The NFL has been a dream of mine since I can remember and I feel that it is my time to take this step to the next level. I am proud to have earned my degree from USC, and that was an extremely important part of this decision for me and my family.”

Williams was All-Pacific 10 Conference and USC’s most valuable player last season, when he had 70 receptions for 1,010 yards and six touchdowns and ranked sixth nationally in punt returns with a 14.2-yard average. He took two back for touchdowns.

A transfer from Arkansas, he made 128 catches in his two seasons with the Trojans, finishing with a 12-reception, 189-yard performance against Boston College in winning the MVP award in the Emerald Bowl last month

McKnight, a junior from River Ridge, La., ran for 1,014 yards last season, becoming the Trojans’ first 1,000-yard rusher since 2005, when Reggie Bush and LenDale White accomplished the feat.

McKnight’s announcement came as USC is investigating his relationship with Scott Schenter, a Santa Monica businessman who had once registered the website domain name 4joemcknight.com.

The running back was seen driving a 2006 Land Rover owned by Schenter, and USC’s compliance office held McKnight out of the Emerald Bowl.

McKnight told The Times that the Land Rover was owned by his girlfriend’s boss and insisted he had never driven it. A USC spokesman later said that McKnight was “mistaken” in his comments and had previously reported to the school that he was using the vehicle.

In an e-mail, Schenter told The Times that the sport utility vehicle was being used by McKnight’s girlfriend, who worked for him and was a “longtime family friend.” Though he acknowledged having marketing interests, Schenter said that none involved McKnight and that he created the web domain to be clever.

Beyond that e-mail, Schenter has declined numerous requests from The Times that he elaborate about the situation.

McKnight said USC’s investigation had no bearing on his decision to begin a professional career. “I didn’t decide to go because of that,” he said.

It is not clear where USC is in its investigation or whether McKnight had received information about his eligibility for the 2010 season from the school.

University officials did not return telephone messages and spokesman Tim Tessalone said athletic program officials would not comment.

USC’s football program is also being investigated because of allegations that Bush, who won a Heisman Trophy as the Trojans’ tailback in 2005, received what the NCAA classifies as “extra benefits” from would-be marketers during his college career.

McKnight was considered a blue-chip prospect in high school, and he created a stir at the news conference to announce his college choice when he told reporters he had talked to Bush on a conference call with USC Coach Pete Carroll while being recruited.

Such an arrangement might have constituted a violation of NCAA rules, but McKnight’s high school coach later claimed the running back misspoke and USC officials have declined to provide details of the outcome of their investigation into the matter.

Comparisons to Bush and the expectations they created weighed on McKnight throughout his time at USC.

He had problems with fumbling as a freshman, when he also suffered his first in a series of injuries -- a bruised knee.

As a sophomore, McKnight suffered from migraines, a hyperextended elbow and injured fingers from when they were caught in a door. He also suffered four dislocated toes during USC’s Rose Bowl victory over Penn State.

This season, McKnight started all but one regular season game and starred during the team’s game-winning drive at Ohio State.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

gary.klein@latimes.com