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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