In a judgment delivered late Thursday night, the NCAA’s student-athlete reinstatement committee upheld the decision to suspend Georgia’s Todd Gurley for four games.
The Bulldogs’ star tailback has been suspended since Oct. 9 after he admitted to accepting more than $3,000 from memorabilia dealers to autograph sports collectible merchandise. UGA applied for his reinstatement eight days ago in the hope he could play Saturday against Florida. Thursday’s ruling assures Gurley won’t be eligible to play until Nov. 15 when the Bulldogs’ play host to No. 3 Auburn in the 10th game of the season.
“We are very disappointed in tonight’s decision by the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee regarding our appeal on Todd Gurley’s eligibility reinstatement,” UGA said in a statement released just minutes after the NCAA’s ruling was announced. “We believe our case to the NCAA for Todd’s immediate reinstatement was strong and compelling. However, we now have exhausted all available options and look forward to Todd’s return to competition on November 15.
“The full attention of the Bulldog Nation now needs to be focused on our team and Saturday’s important game against Florida.”
The No. 11 Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) play Florida (3-3, 2-3) on Saturday in Jacksonville.
