ATHENS — Georgia football coach Mark Richt took umbrage Wednesday with the accusation that Georgia knew about the positive drug tests for Isaiah Crowell, Ken Malcome and Carlton Thomas before the Florida game and put off their suspensions until Saturday’s game against New Mexico State.
“My response is that we’ve always had the utmost integrity in everything we do. We have policies in place in our athletic association that we follow to the T. That’s the case here, and it’s been the case since I’ve been at Georgia.
“We all know that we do our business the way it should be done, and we do it with integrity. So people who make comments who don’t know probably shouldn’t, quite frankly, because they don’t know and I’d be able to prove 100 percent they’re wrong. But I’m not going to spend the time doing that.”
Crowell, Malcome and Thomas each received one-game suspensions this week for undisclosed “violations of team policy.” Two sources familiar with the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that the players tested positive for marijuana use and failed a UGA-administered drug test.
Some of the disciplinary measures for a positive drug test at Georgia are spelled out in the 34-page “Student-Athlete Handbook.”
Others are a little more subjective. Take, for instance, the scene during the early portion of the Bulldogs’ practice Wednesday at UGA’s Woodruff Practice Fields.
There, in an area known as “The Pit,” Crowell, Malcome and Thomas were wearing harnesses and pulling weighted “power sleds” on chains 40 yards at a time under the watchful eye of strength-and-conditioning coordinator Joe Tereshinski.
That punishment was not spelled out in the “Drug Testing, Education and Counseling Policy” section of the handbook. But their one-game suspension was.
The disciplinary guidelines for such a first offense called for the players to be suspended from 10 percent of their team’s games. With a 12-game schedule, Georgia translates that to one game.
That’s just one of the stipulations spelled out in the 2011-12 handbook. Nine others also are listed, including notification of parents or guardians, being subjected to subsequent drug tests until a negative result is produced on two different occasions, attending drug counseling and evaluation sessions and performing no less than 20 hours of community service.
The suspension penalty increases to 50 percent for a second offense (six games for football) and a third offense calls for dismissal from the program.
“We don’t play around,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Wednesday. “There’s no monkey business here. I know our policy is very clear cut and leaves no gray area.”
It’s also stipulated in the handbook that all suspensions are to be served in the very next game.
“We’re not going to be selective,” McGarity said. “When things are determined, the action is immediate. It’s not a pick-and-choose situation. We want to run our program the right way and the right way is to do things immediately.”
According to a recent survey of athletic-department drug policies nationwide conducted by cbssports.com, Georgia is among the toughest on drug use in the SEC. Ten of the league’s programs do not include a suspension for a first offense. Many leave the punishment for subsequent positive tests to “the discretion of the AD or coach.” Most don’t dismiss until after a fourth incident, if ever.
McGarity thinks Georgia is getting it right.
“I think it’s something that resonates with parents,” he said. “They know their children’s health and well-being is important to us and that lessons will be learned if they choose to make decisions of that nature.”
Richt, taking questions about the suspensions for the first time Wednesday, feels like the penalties are appropriate.
“I’ve always felt like you have to have an element of punishment, something that will sting, something that will make somebody think twice about doing something or other guys who are watching,” he said. “But you have to educate them, then you have to love them still. They’re still part of this family and we want them to understand we’re supporting them through it. But, you know, if the attitude is right and they’re ready to learn from it and become better for it, discipline can be a very positive thing.”
UGA athletes are subjected to a number of drug tests throughout their careers. Every athlete is tested for both recreational and performance-enhancing drugs during their preseason physicals. During the season, each athlete could be selected for a random drug test by the NCAA.
Meanwhile, the athletic association conducts periodic random tests during the season and can order one for “reasonable suspicion.”
"It's a part of being an athlete," defensive back Brandon Boykin said. "I guess it's necessary, and we try to do what we're supposed to do and abide by the rules."
Crowell, Malcome and Thomas were asked to submit to a test on the night of Oct. 26, according to the sources. Those results were processed by an independent lab and returned to UGA late Monday.
“I’m not surprised that young men make mistakes,” Richt said. “We all know no one is perfect. We know that young guys tend to use bad judgment sometimes. When they do, that’s when we come in and help them out.”
About the Author
