Jim Mora apologizes for campus murders comment, denies it was about USC

Jim Mora apologized after UCLA practice on Thursday for making what appeared to be a negative comment about campus safety at USC.

During an interview with Roger Lodge on AM-830 Wednesday morning, Mora took what seemed to be a shot at USC.

“When you’re talking about UCLA, it’s one of the great schools in the world — not just America, but in the world,” Mora said. “It’s a safe, beautiful safe campus in a great area of town. I mean, we don’t have murders one block off of our campus. We’ve got a cocoon of safetiness (sic) yet, there are opportunities to go out and explore the world there. It’s an amazing place. There’s champions all over the place, and parents love that.”

Two USC students were killed near campus in April. The campus also is in the South Central LA area, which is considered to be a high-crime neighborhood. Despite the evidence that would suggest Mora was referring to USC with that comment, he denied that was the case.

“I just said our campus is safe,” Mora told the Los Angeles Times. “I didn’t say anything about anyone else’s campus. I just said it about our campus. I didn’t mention another campus. We don’t have anybody getting murdered a block off of our campus.

“If anybody, whether USC or Cal State San Bernardino, is offended by the statement, then that’s their insecurity, not mine.”

That was a poor clarification by Mora especially since it’s so obvious he was using negative recruiting toward USC. At least he finally apologized later in the day:

“After learning the details of the shootings downtown earlier this year, I can understand how my comments on the radio yesterday could be interpreted as insensitive to the victims and their families,” Mora said. “The interviewer and myself were talking about UCLA football and the tremendous attributes of the UCLA campus and I truly regret and am sorry if my words caused any pain at all. That was not my intention.”

Allow me to call b.s. Mora wasn’t taking a shot at USC and didn’t know about the shootings just like he didn’t know that Cordell Broadus was Snoop Dogg’s son when he offered him a scholarship. And he didn’t know about these things just like he didn’t call USC “Southern Cal” intentionally.

If this were the first time Mora was trying to backpedal, I might believe him. But when you’ve denied things this many times, you lose the benefit of the doubt. At least he did apologize even if it took a denial first.