Georgia offensive tackle Kolton Houston, officially listed as a senior this season, said Tuesday he plans to petition the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility in hopes of playing for the Bulldogs again next season.
“I’ll definitely go ahead and apply for it and see where that takes us,” Houston said.
Houston enrolled at UGA in January 2010, making this his fifth season in the program, but he was ineligible to play in games the first three years because he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance that he was unable to purge from his system. After finally achieving what the NCAA deemed an “acceptable threshold” of the substance, Houston had his eligibility reinstated in July 2013.
UGA has long argued that the banned substance was medically administered following shoulder surgery in high school and was injected into an area of fatty tissue from which it could not dissipate.
Houston played in 13 games last season, starting six. He has started all seven games this season at right tackle.
Under NCAA rules, athletes normally have five years to play four seasons, but in rare circumstances a sixth year is granted. In Houston’s case, it would be a sixth year to play three seasons.
“I’ve got the whole rest of my life to go work, but I’ve only got one more year to play college football,” Houston said. “So that’s sort of my view on it right now, and we’ll just see if the NCAA will work with us.”
Houston said his understanding is that he can make the request at the end of Georgia’s regular season.
“As time is coming down to it, I’m making that decision to probably come back,” Houston said. “So we’ll apply for it and see if I can get it.”
