Report: Suspended Clemson trio could also go ringless

Controversy, if you want to call it that, sparked at Clemson this week when Dabo Swinney revealed Kelly Bryant was not gifted a ring for helping the Tigers to last season’s national championship. Plenty of people were mad, but not Bryant himself.

Obscuring that discussion was the very real possibility -- certainty, even -- that three players who were on the team won’t get rings, either.

As pointed out by ESPNUpstate host Marc Ryan, former Clemson defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, former offensive lineman Zach Giella and current tight end Braden Galloway are also prohibited by NCAA rules from obtaining rings.

“A new twist to the Kelly Bryant ring discussion,” Ryan tweeted. “Based on the NCAA rule below, the three players who tested positive for Ostarine also likely wouldn’t be eligible to receive their national title ring.”

He then went on to screen shot NCAA rule 16.1.4.2, which reads:

“Awards for winning an individual or team conference or national championship may be presented each year, limited in value and number as specified in Figure 16-2. Awards for winning a conference or national championship in a team sport may be provide only to student-athletes who were eligible to participate in the championship event.”

Lawrence, Giella and Galloway were not eligible to compete, as they were suspended by the NCAA for taking the banned substance Ostarine.

All three players believe they were given Ostarine by Clemson’s nutrition staff, a point Clemson itself does not deny.

Lawrence has since moved onto the NFL, but Giella and Galloway both returned to the team in 2019, and the NCAA continued both players’ suspensions for the entire upcoming season. Giella has since left the team.