A.J. Green appeal will be heard Friday
(Updated 9 p.m.)
ATHENS – Georgia’s appeal of wide receiver A.J. Green’s four-game suspension will be heard by an NCAA committee Friday, UGA associate athletic director Claude Felton said.
The appeal will be heard via conference call by a quorum of the NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, consisting of officials from other schools and conferences.
Asked Wednesday night if he expects a ruling on the same day as the hearing, Georgia coach Mark Richt said: “I can only hope that.”
Green, who didn’t play in Georgia’s first two games, will have to sit out Saturday’s game against Arkansas and the Sept. 25 game at Mississippi State unless his suspension is shortened.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Wednesday the Razorbacks have to prepare as if Green will be on the field Saturday, while Richt said Georgia has approached this week from the premise that Green won’t play.
“And then if it turns out he can play . . . we certainly can use him,” Richt said.
Georgia players say they’re prepared for either scenario.
“Hopefully they come back with a ruling that is favorable and he’ll be out there, but it’s not something you can bank on,” tight end Aron White said. “We’ve been preparing to where if he comes back great, but if he doesn’t we’ve got to still go out and get these games. We’re still the Bulldogs, with or without A.J.”
Cornerback Vance Cuff said a Green return would be “definitely a plus – about five pluses, to tell you the truth.”
The NCAA handed Green the four-game suspension last week for selling his Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000 to former North Carolina football player Chris Hawkins, whom the NCAA considers an agent. In several interviews, Hawkins has said that he bought the jersey as a collector and that he is not an agent.
It also would be against NCAA rules for a student-athlete to sell memorabilia to a non-agent.
In another development, the Morgan County Citizen and ESPN.com reported Wednesday that Hawkins, from Kinston, N.C., was arrested near Madison, Ga., on April 23, 2009, on felony charges of trafficking cocaine and misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana. He reportedly has an Oct. 18 court date in Morgan County.
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273 comments Add your comment
dawgs
September 17th, 2010
12:41 pm
It’s time to for the ncaa to set up a program to legalize and make transparent financial aid for athletes who need financial help both on and off the playing field. I hear of players whose fathers are in prison,have abandon their families, drugs etc.Look what these kids have achieved and I bet most of this money goes to help their families.
HognVA
September 17th, 2010
12:56 pm
HAHAHAHA……Petrino is coming and he is bringing hell with him. Doesn’t matter if he plays or not. Go Hogs!
kevin
September 17th, 2010
1:03 pm
HognVA,
Yeah, he sure brought hell last game when your “dynamic” offense failed to score more than 7 pts vs a nobody team midway through the 3rd quarter. And, rooting for Petrino is so lame. No worries, you won’t have to root for him long as I am sure he will leave your school shortly for the next job.
Integrity
September 17th, 2010
1:32 pm
If one of the purposes of NCAA investigations is to preserve the integrity of the game, it’s difficult to understand how a player can beat up an undercover cop and receive no suspension, and yet a player can sell a jersey and receive a four game suspension. Maybe the NCAA needs to be involved in many of these “no charges pressed” scenarios where coaches extend no suspension for such criminal acts. It wouldn’t at all be shocking if much more than $1000 has been passed under the table in some of these instances. In addition, with a four game suspension seemingly being so out of alignment with what would normally be expected for selling a jersey, I wonder what measures are taken by the NCAA to insure with certainty that their representatives are unbiased prior to an investigation.
Alabama Jack
September 17th, 2010
1:39 pm
Integrity, mainly they don’t use UGA graduates as representatives.
Tech Sucks
September 17th, 2010
1:42 pm
Hey nerds, good thing you aren’t playing that power house KANSAS this weekend. You may have a shot at winning.
Most overrated football team ever.
Jeff
September 17th, 2010
2:17 pm
hmmmmm…interesting that the committee that will hear the appeal are from other schools……what other schools???????
WOW!!
September 17th, 2010
3:20 pm
Dawgs- the “financial aid” you speak of for athletes comes in the form of a free education, free room and board, free colleg experience, free apparell, free food, free access to world class facilities, and most importantly to the STUDENT athlete FREE TUTORING IN ANY SUBJECT AREA THEY MAY NEED!!!! They take those bogus classes to ensure eligibility! They have access to one-on-one help in any class they take!!!
Most of them don’t take the academic part of their college experience seriously. Therefore, when they don’t make it to the NFL and they are out of eligibility they don’t have the classes needed to prepare them to get a decent paying job!!!!!
They are given an opportunity they never would’ve been given otherwise and EVERYBODY
Save the sob story!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was a college athlete. I’ve seen these idiots up close and personal!!
WOW!!
September 17th, 2010
3:22 pm
YOU THINK PAYING THESE PLAYERS IS GOING TO MOTIVATE THEM TO BETTER PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE REAL WORLD?!?!?!?! YOU THINK BY PAYING THEM THAT SUDDENLY GRADUATION RATES WILL GO UP??? THEY WILL SUDDENLY STOP TAKING BASKET WEAVING 101 WITH BUSINESS 101?????
GET A GRIP PEOPLE!!!!
kevin
September 17th, 2010
3:59 pm
WOW!!,
“YOU THINK PAYING THESE PLAYERS IS GOING TO MOTIVATE THEM TO BETTER PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE REAL WORLD?!?!?!?!”
I don’t know, but do you think typing in all caps makes your point better? FYI, the caps lock key is located directly to the left of the “A” key.
L-Dawg
September 17th, 2010
4:04 pm
Who wants to bet the NCAA doesn’t say squat today?
Concrete Pete
September 17th, 2010
4:29 pm
Ole Miss gets an appeal heard and a decision within 24 hrs. UGA had to wait 9 days just to appeal, still no decision…. Unreal. Does Houston Nutt have some secret sex tapes of Jim Isch ?(interim pres. of NCAA)
gomdawg
September 17th, 2010
4:30 pm
NCAA , there is something wrong with this.
gomdawg
September 17th, 2010
4:35 pm
The appeal was heard this morning whats the problem, we big boys yes or no.
Sunday Snacks: It’s a must-win for Georgia « Rachel G. Bowers
September 17th, 2010
4:44 pm
[...] AJC’s Tim Tucker and the rest of the beat reporters frothing at the mouth to hear about this A.J. Green situation. It’s been all quiet on that front, but a decision should be made [...]
The Exterminator
September 17th, 2010
4:57 pm
Is there any word at all?
ReservoirDawg
September 17th, 2010
4:57 pm
I encourage everyone to go checkout the CMR Mic’d up on georgiadogs.com I don’t know if it’s just me, but there doesn’t seem to be much intensity going on a the UGA practices
The Exterminator
September 17th, 2010
4:58 pm
Oh, yeah, I forgot. Tech sucks.
Red Panties
September 17th, 2010
4:59 pm
Just wondering, if AJ is cleared to play Sat, will that mean we now are going to run the table, beat Florida and then Alabama and play for the National Championship? Just axin.
Red Panties
September 17th, 2010
5:02 pm
ReservoirDawg
I looked at that earlier and I must agree with you. As a matter of fact, he sounded whiney, not much emotion at all.
ReservoirDawg
September 17th, 2010
5:03 pm
There’s a huge difference between Richt’s practice and the Saban practice I saw on ESPN. Saban is constantly motivating his players. He had my blood going through the computer
What's the Word?
September 17th, 2010
6:04 pm
Did anyone hear if AJ is getting paroled?
kevin
September 17th, 2010
6:14 pm
Red Panties,
How did GT do last week against the mighty Kansas Jayhawks. Perhaps instead of trolling the UGA blog, you should petition your program to find a QB that can actually throw the ball and find a coach that does not listen to mickey mouse when deciding how to formulate his offense.