re: 2013 UGA Football recruiting thread

What the heck kind of substance stays in your system for 2 1/2 freaking years! Unreal!

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Another depth hit

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Can Malcom Mitchell or Richard Samuel play on the offensive line?

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Apparently once he tests clean he can play again, but he has yet to be able to do that. He's not a dumb kid and I highly doubt he's still taking the banned substance so this is a really weird situation. Hopefully for Kolton's sake it get's straightened out soon.

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Yea, this has been bugging me since he showed up in Athens. Word is he's been good enough to play long before now, including starting ahead of Justin "who do I block" Anderson last year.

I trust McGarity is taking all the possible avenues to get this handled, it's just got to be very frustrating for the team, and especially Houston.

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The NCAA are beig huge dicks about this

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Nothing really they can do. He took PEDs. The NCAA doesnt mess around with that. Many view it worse than accepting benefits.

Correspondence between your AD and Emmert.


July 12 communication by McGarity to NCAA President Emmert:

"Mr.
Houston, his parents and our staff acknowledge the fact that the results of that test severely impacted his ability to compete as a student-athlete at UGA, and the Houston family accepted the responsibility for this unfortunate situation. Since the initial test confirmation on April 13, 2010, Mr. Houston has been tested very
frequently by the NCAA and UGA, and there is scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates that there has been no re-use over the past 2 1/2
years. While we have fought for Mr. Houston's restoration of eligibility through every imaginable NCAA process available without any success, we will maintain our effort to see this through to the very end. It is disappointing to witness this scenario play out for 2 1/2 years with Mr. Houston's eligibility in question. . . . We are appealing to you on behalf of the young man who has done everything possible to clear
himself."

July 31 response from Emmert:

"While I understand the institution's empathy for Kolton's situation, I am surprised the institution would make a request. That surprise stems in part from the fact that Kolton tested positive in subsequent drug tests after his initial sanction, and the Drug Test Appeals Subcommittee did not impose additional sanctions . . . due to the "declining value"
argument that supported the conclusion that there was no use of the banned substance. The exit test policy, however, which would require Kolton not to have elevated levels of the banned substance in his system prior to competing against other student-athletes who are competiting clean, is not something that can be appealed because doing so would undermine the purpose of the drug-testing program. . . . The fact remains that Kolton currently has the presence of a banned substance in his system and will not be able to participate in NCAA competition until that presence drops to an appropriate threshold."

nm

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[quote]By SETH EMERSON — semerson@macon.com ATHENS - Georgia offensive lineman Kolton Houston is still NCAA ineligible and will not play in 2012, due to a long-running saga over a positive drug test for a banned substance. Houston took the substance to help him heal from a shoulder injury in high school. The substance, an anabolic steroid called Norandrolone, was prescribed by what UGA athletic trainer Ron Courson called "an unscrupulous physician." Two and a half years later, the substance has not left Houston's system. "Regardless of the time that you served from the penalty standpoint, there's a certain threshold (in levels of hormones in a test) that you have to hit," Courson said. "He's exceedingly close to the threshold, but he hasn't hit that threshold yet. That's our argument, that he's so close to that threshold, (and) it can't be proved that this level he's at right now is performance-enhancing." Courson said they are testing Houston about once a week and are staying in touch with the NCAA. Read more here: LINK ]


According to Ron Courson (a board certified physician) Norandrolone, can stay in Houston's body for 2 1/2 years. Where did you get your information?

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Well, if UGA is saying that Houston took the PEDs. and that the PED in particular can stay in Houston's system for 2.5 years, and that 2.5 years later, Houston is still showing the effects of the PED in his system, then what is UGA crying about?

Answer: they want the NCAA rule that everybody has to abide by changed for Houston. Not for anybody else, just for Houston. Why: because Houston is "close" to meeting the NCAA rule?

Everyone is saying that Houston is NCAA ineligible and "will not play in 2012", but I keep reading that once Houston's hormones return to to NCAA-acceptable levels, that he's then eligible to play. So that only sounds like he's temporarily ineligible, pending future testing.....

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They want the NCAA to show some discretion on this issue and not be so black and white.

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I want Houston to play as much as anyone, but the standard was set long before anyone ever heard of Kolton Houston.

It is what it is, I hate it badly, but it is too slippery a slope to be adjusting the standards for each situation.

Except that the real issue in this case is that UGA has proven, by the ridiculous amount of testing that they have done, that any threshold that is set by the NCAA is arbitrary at best as there are wide variations in the labs testing and same day samples. Basically, no one else has apparently ever tested an individual so many times for so long so they are actually breaking ground on how little the NCAA or the testing agencies really know about these drugs and how they are metabolized or not metabolized through the system. I would be fine with the NCAA being an absolute F-wad on this case if they were on every case, but they aren't. How many examples are out there of them taking obvious cheating situations and lessening or not even giving punishment due to extenuating circumstances? I am with Ron Courson on this one- F the NCAA .

Big pick up. He's an instant impact kind of talent.