Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS, Ga. -- Kolton Houston will explain his side of a lengthy NCAA eligibility dispute for the first time on Sunday morning.

ESPN reporter Bob Holtzman visited the Georgia offensive lineman and his family at their Buford, Ga., home in March and assembled a piece for "Outside the Lines" that will air at 9 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN.

In Holtzman's story, Houston and UGA director of sports medicine Ron Courson describe their unusual three-year battle with the NCAA that began when Houston first tested positive for steroid use shortly after enrolling at Georgia in 2010.

Although the NCAA has accepted Courson's extensive testing data that indicates Houston has not reused the performance-enhancing drug, it has not wavered in its decision that Houston will remain ineligible until tests reveal that the drug remains in his system only at an allowable level. In dozens of tests since the initial positive result in 2010, the remaining trace elements of the drug have not dissipated enough to reach the minimum threshold set forth in the NCAA's rulebook. Thus he has yet to appear in a college game, and the Bulldogs have been forced to play without a player who was projected to start at right tackle after spring practice concluded last year.

What will happen next remains unclear. UGA sports information director Claude Felton said Wednesday morning that Houston is "currently on the roster," but "as of this moment still ineligible."

Courson made his first public appeal on Houston's behalf last August, when the Bulldogs opened preseason practice. He had privately lobbied college sports' governing body that the trace elements of the drug that remain in Houston's system do not provide a performance-enhancing benefit, but the NCAA has not made an exception to its rules for Houston.

Courson and Bulldogs coach Mark Richt have spoken to reporters about the case in the past year, but the "Outside the Lines" interview will represent the first time Houston has publicly addressed his situation.

In addition to its Sunday morning time slot, "Outside the Lines" will air next week at 3 p.m. ET Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia’s 2010 football recruiting class has suffered further attrition now that outside linebacker Dexter Morant left the team.

UGA sports information director Claude Felton confirmed on Monday morning that Morant has “left the university due to academic considerations.”

Morant is officially the eighth member of Georgia’s 19-man 2010 signing class -- joining tailback Ken Malcome, safety Jakar Hamilton, cornerback Derek Owens, linebacker Demetre Baker, offensive lineman Brent Benedict, defensive end Jalen Fields and receiver Lonnie Outlaw -- who either failed to qualify academically, transferred or who has been dismissed outright. Meanwhile, offensive lineman Kolton Houston has yet to play in a game and linebacker Brandon Burrows made a limited college debut just last fall.

ESPN rated Morant as a three-star prospect and the nation’s No. 75 defensive end when he signed with the Bulldogs. However, he was frequently set back by injuries at Georgia and never actually appeared in a game in three seasons.

Morant quit the team minutes before his first practice in 2010, with Coach Mark Richt reporting that he “just felt like he lost the desire to play.” He returned to the team four days later.

It's as if Georgia just can't escape off-field storylines during the offseason.

First, we saw the spring arrests of cornerbacks Sanders Commings and Branden Smith. Then, safety Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree reportedly failed drug tests. Commings is set to serve a two-game suspension, while the others are likely to miss time as well this fall.

Oh, and then there was the whole Isaiah Crowell incident that left the Bulldogs without its starting running back entering fall camp.

Then came Thursday's events. One incident could be classified as bad luck, as redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Kolton Houston was ruled ineligible because trace elements of a steroid administered after a 2009 surgery remain in his body.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia finally shed some light on Kolton Houston's NCAA eligibility issues at Thursday's season-opening news conference. Unfortunately for the redshirt sophomore offensive lineman, his case remains unresolved.

As a result, Georgia opened preseason practice without knowing when one of its top offensive linemen -- who completed spring practice as the starting right tackle -- will be available to play.

“

The bottom line is he's been tested probably more times than anybody in the history of college football and we're 100 percent certain that he's not continued to take this thing.

” -- Georgia coach Mark Richt, on OL Kolton Houston's eligibility issue

"It's been tough because obviously it's something that he didn't want and it's not really something that he can control, either," offensive guard Chris Burnette said of Houston, who continues to test positive for steroid use more than two years after unknowingly being administered the drug in the wake of shoulder surgery in 2009, according to UGA medical staffers.

Georgia's staff has tested Houston repeatedly since he initially tested positive in April 2010 for the anabolic steroid Norandrolone and those tests show that he has not used a performance-enhancing substance since, but enough trace elements of the drug remain in his system that he continues to test positive.

"It's just tough having to see that and seeing how much talent he has and how much ability he has and him having to just sit on the sideline and wait; it's tough," Burnette said. "Hopefully, all of this can get resolved maybe before the season starts, because I would be ecstatic to see him out there finally."

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