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Sam Darnold's vision as USC quarterback was, in part, refined on a basketball court

/ STAFF WRITER

LOS ANGELES – Jake Russell remembered leading a fast break.

It was sometime in the summer of 2013. Russell, a walk-on wide receiver at USC, then played on the boys basketball team at San Clemente High. As he approached the basket during the summer-league contest, he noticed Sam Darnold trailing him. An idea sprang up.

“I threw a pass behind my head toward him,” Russell said, “and he caught it and dunked on some kid. It was kind of insane.”

Darnold, who was a rising junior at the time, never had dunked.