The appeals process in the case of two Clemson football players accused of failing an NCAA drug test prior to the Cotton Bowl will be extended.
Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich said on Friday the athletic department is getting ready to and will be granted an extension by the NCAA in the cases of tight end Braden Galloway and offensive lineman Zach Giella. The two were suspended, along with former defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, after traces of a performance enhancing drug called ostarine was found in their drug test results.
All three players denied any wrong doing and insist the drug, which is illegal, got into their system unintentionally. Clemson has sided with its players and is still investigating how the drug got into their bodies.
All three players were suspended by the NCAA for the Cotton Bowl and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game after their B-Sample test came back positive. Clemson appealed the suspensions after the B-Sample results were made public. The original appeal was 45 days and the time for that runs out next week.
Radakovich said they will be filing their request for an extension shortly with the NCAA, they will have 45 days added on to the appeals process with the extension.
“It will be granted, and we will just have a little more time and an additional 45 days to gather results of information that we are pulling together,” he said.
As of right now, Galloway and Giella are suspended from playing in any games in 2019. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said earlier this week the two are allowed to practice with the team and participate in other team activities.
Radakovich said they have not received any results back from the lab on the samples they have sent off for testing. He said he does feel like progress has been made as they work through the appeal.
“I think it has, but it is just very slow because it is kind of out of our hands,” the Clemson athletic director said. “We have sent some things off to be tested but the results have not come back yet.”
Radakovich is hopeful the results will come back in the next couple of weeks. He said Clemson is not ready to release what was sent off for testing.
“We will pull all of that together once it is all done,” he said.
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