Noah Spence officially out tomorrow; words from parents, spokesman

Submitted by justingoblue on

Spence has what his parents are calling a "medical illness" and say he is seeking treatment. His parents say they don't know how long the suspension will last but are working with OSU and the Big Ten to find a resolution after he apparently tested positive for ecstasy a second time. OSU will only confirm that he will not play against Kent State.

Hope he gets the help he needs.

Link.

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sammylittle

September 12th, 2014 at 5:03 PM ^

I worked with student athletes as part of my business and helped an FBS school's athletic department write their drug policy.

The NCAA does some random testing annually at most schools with increased testing of Bowl and Tourney teams. A positive for any controlled or performance enhancing drug automatically results in a one year suspension.

The NCAA allows member schools to write their own policies. School must abide by their policies or will receive a violation. The goal of NCAA member schools seems to be to do enough testing to prevent their student athletes from getting caught by the NCAA.

Joined: 09/29/2008

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sammylittle

September 12th, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^

I don't recall any stipulations being placed on members schools. They don't have to have a policy. They just have to follow any policy they happen to create. If Baylor had a policy that any student athlete who tested positive must be given a bucket of marshmallows. They'd better follow through.

Most schools go with a suspension of about 10% of a season and an evaluation for a substance use disorder on a first positive. They usually test frequently so they won't be blindsided on an NCAA test.

Some schools give the student athletes a heads up a couple of days before and some do not.

Joined: 09/29/2008

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oriental andrew

September 12th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^

Very vague statement (not that I expect them to spill the kid's medical history - not important for any of us to know, in fact). "Medical attention" could mean treating anything from mental health issues to a physical ailment to addiction. Either way, seems like the appropriate outcome to suspend him indefinitely. 

Joined: 06/30/2008

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Everyone Murders

September 12th, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^

But MDMA is not particularly addictive, and I understand you have to use it chronically to become addicted to it.  So it's odd to hear this captioned as a medical problem.  (There are a bunch of other good reasons to avoid this stuff, not the least of which is that street versions are (i) often not really MDMA, but cheaper stuff like meth, (ii) even if really MDMA, good luck guessing what dosage you're getting when you buy a tab.)

Maybe Spence is addicted to it, maybe this is cover put up by his parents, but I really do hope that he turns things around.  Buckeye or not, I hate to see drugs screw up any person's life. 

For the curious:

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nowayman

September 12th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^

other drug.  

Getting caught twice for the same drug when he should know drug tests were coming up indicates a pretty bad problem to me. 

I sincerely hope I'm wrong and he just took it again, recreationally, at the wrong time.  

Best of luck to you, Spence. 

Joined: 06/14/2012

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alum96

September 12th, 2014 at 5:11 PM ^

Can someone clear up his old suspension.  Was it for this year's first 3 games? The bowl and first 2 games?  from my superficial reading on 11 Warriors it sounded like this was going to be his first game back this weekend so if he had a 3 game suspension I assume he was suspending after the UM game but before the bowl?

If he just went right back to using Ectasy it just sounds like a kid who is like "they are not going to test me again!"

I dont know many - I am not a drug user so I dont know where Ectasy falls on the chain of drugs but from my very bad understanding its something kids use as a step above pot and its not like the heavy duty stuff.  Calling it a "medical illness" sounds like a covering of ass.

Nothing personal against him and if I am wrong I hope this "illness" gets fixed - I get that alcholism is an illness as are using hard drugs but Ive never heard of pot use as an illness nor ectasty.

Joined: 04/28/2012

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ESNY

September 12th, 2014 at 6:01 PM ^

What "resolution"?   According to espn:

 

According to the Big Ten handbook: "A student-athlete who tests positive on a second occasion for the use of a banned substance (as defined in Section 1.3) shall be declared permanently ineligible for all further intercollegiate competition in all sports"

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justingoblue

September 12th, 2014 at 6:06 PM ^

We are uncertain how long he will be ineligible, but we will work with Ohio State and the Big Ten until we have a final resolution.

I don't pretend to know exactly what they mean, but it could be that they'll argue the first test was an NCAA test, they could be waiting for a second test to confirm the result, or they could just be waiting for the Big Ten to say GTFO, I have no idea.

 

Joined: 11/16/2010

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evenyoubrutus

September 12th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^

Thanks OSU, for clarifying that a decorated "scholar" athlete on your team also happens to use ecstacy on a regular basis. Speaks volumes about your academic standards. 
 
This sign should probably be revised.
 

Joined: 11/04/2008

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Jalm

September 12th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^

Do we need to ask McGary how his drug test went? And that was just for some pot. Albeit it was for MBB don't know how the rules go between sports. With that said I think it should be a year ban at least for any player including our own.

Joined: 10/25/2013

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SECcashnassadvantage

September 12th, 2014 at 10:01 PM ^

He is fine, most of us used drugs in college or lied about doing it. He doesn't need help, but to just leave. I wouldn't have smoked weed, or drank if I played for Michigan or ohlio. He had to do it so fuck him. No self control and he should be gone. McGary accepted his fuck up like a man. Ohlio players tend to play on.

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