Shareece Wright missed the entire 2009 season with academic issues.  With results of the recent grading period in, the USC cornerback is now eligible to participate in the postseason, and could be a factor in next weekend’s Nut Bowl.

Wright was the Trojans’ starting corner in 2008, played in just two games, before being sidelined with a hairline fracture in his neck and scrapping the remainder of the season with a medical redshirt.  He was tagged to be a starter this year, becoming just one of the few defenders returning from a year ago, but was ruled academically ineligible in August.

The timing of his return coincides with a new vacancy in the secondary, after Josh Pinkard’s season and time at Southern California recently ended with a torn ACL suffered in the season finale.  Pinkard is scratched from the Emerald Bowl roster, and with this being his third such injury as a Trojan, his draft stock is likely to suffer.

“He’s missed pretty much two seasons already,” said one NFL scout, whose team had Pinkard as a third- or fourth-rounder. “How high do you want to draft a player that you’re going to be worried about? Some teams, he might not be on their board at all.”

Injury concerns dropped Kevin Ellison to the sixth round of last April’s draft, but he’s already proven to be a gem, now starting as a rookie in the Chargers secondary.