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Lincoln Riley on suspensions: 'Not as clear cut,' and 'I do not know what their status is right now'

OU coach says he's "not trying to play games" about whether they'll play this week at Texas Tech
John E. Hoover|
Lincoln Riley on suspensions: 'Not as clear cut,' and 'I do not know what their status is right now'
Lincoln Riley on suspensions: 'Not as clear cut,' and 'I do not know what their status is right now'

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, normally poised under the wildest of circumstances, actually sounded flustered on Monday when asked for an update on the status of his three players still serving NCAA suspensions.

“I don’t have one,” Riley said. “I mean, this process … how would I say this — this process is not as clear cut as you guys think it is or as I thought it was going to be.

“So I’m not trying to play games. I’m not trying to do any of that. I do not know what their status is right now. It is not decided.”

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, defensive end Ronnie Perkins and wide receiver Trejan Bridges were suspended before last season’s College Football Playoff loss to LSU reportedly because of failed drug tests.

The NCAA mandate is that players serving that level of suspension must sit for 50 percent of the season — in last year’s case six games, but in this year’s case, that could be equated to five games.

Riley’s pat answer since January has been that the situation is ongoing.

They’ve now missed six games — one last year, five this year — although it has been reported that Perkins’ suspension might have different circumstances.

The week began with what seemed like good news for the Sooners: on Sunday, Stevenson’s mother posted on her Twitter account that she and her husband would be in Lubbock on Saturday, cheering “loud and proud” instead of handing out Halloween candy to neighborhood children.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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