Amani Bledsoe has gone to court in an attempt to get something back that the NCAA has, for now, taken from him.
In October of last year, Bob Stoops confirmed that Bledsoe had been indefinitely suspended from the Oklahoma football team. While the then-head coach declined to confirm the reason or reasons behind the suspension, it was subsequently reported that the defensive lineman had violated the NCAA’s policy on performance enhancing drugs and would be suspended for one calendar year.
According to Tulsa World, Bledsoe filed a lawsuit last month in which he’s asking the courts to compel the NCAA to lift his suspension and give him back a year of eligibility. The NCAA had previously denied Bledsoe’s appeal of its initial ruling.
Bledsoe claims in the lawsuit that he had taken the protein powder, Inner Armour, of one of his teammates after he had run out of his own. Bledsoe was then subjected to random drug testing by the NCAA, which found that the sample he submitted tested positive for a substance called clomiphene, which the World describes as “commonly used to treat fertility problems in women but can also be used as a performance-enhancer because of its estrogen-blocking qualities.” A second sample tested positive for the same substance as well.
From the newspaper’s report:The lawsuit states Bledsoe submitted the proteins and multi-vitamins he had recently taken and submitted them to athletic trainer Scott Anderson. Bledsoe and OU submitted the substances to an independent laboratory in Nashville, Tenn.
Testing revealed the Inner Armour substance contained clomiphene, but Bledsoe’s other powder and vitamins did not. After the testing, the laboratory purchased and tested another container of Inner Armour, and the test came back negative.
Bledsoe is eligible to return from the suspension for the Oct. 7 game against Iowa State. If the suspension isn’t lifted by the courts, the lineman will have missed a total of 10 games -- the last six of the 2016 season, the first four of this one.
A four-star member of OU’s 2016 recruiting class, Bledsoe was rated as the No. 8 strongside end in the country; the No. 2 player at any position in the state of Kansas; and No. 155 on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. As a true freshman, Bledsoe played in six games and was credited with three tackles.