NCAA denies Fulton’s eligibility appeal

Published 4:04 pm Saturday, August 11, 2018

LSU junior cornerback Kristian Fulton isn’t giving up just yet, but it appears he will lose a second season with the Tigers after the NCAA denied his appeal of a two-year suspension for tampering with his drug test.

Fulton’s attorney, Don Jackson, told NOLA.com Friday that they will seek a waiver to the suspension. “They made the wrong decision,” he said.

Fulton was suspended last season and was seeking to have the second year dropped and to be eligible this season.

Fulton, 19, who was the nation’s top-ranked cornerback coming out of Rummel High School in New Orleans when he signed with LSU in 2016, played sparingly due to injury his freshman year. 

It was February 2017 when he ran afoul of the NCAA when he was caught trying to substitute someone else’s urine for his own during a random drug test.

He was caught in the act, and the irony was that when he provided his own sample he passed the test.

He later said that he was under the impression that among the drug being tested for would be marijuana — which he admitted to having smoked two days previous — when in fact the test was strictly for performance enhancing drugs.

NCAA rules have a stricter penalty for tampering or cheating on a drug test — the two-year ban — than the one-year suspension for failing.

“Lost for words,” Fulton posted on Twitter after his appeal. “All I can say is I’m thankful for all the prayers and the support I’ve gotten from everyone. Love all y’all.”

One of the arguments in the appeal was that Fulton had not been properly educated by the school on the drug-testing process; for instance, he said he was unaware that the penalty for tampering with tests was more severe than failing it.

His attorney also argued that the procedure lacked due process and that the transferring of the samples was flawed.

LSU, which has since upgraded its drug-testing education policies as a direct result of Fulton’s case, supported the appeal.

“LSU Athletics officials are continuing to review the case,” the school said in a statement issued Thursday night.

“I was on the call today with Kristian and our team and I believe we made a strong case for an appeal to the committee,” LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva said. “I’m disappointed by this decision. Kristian has worked hard to work his way back from this and we are going to continue to support him.”

The 6-foot, 177-pound Fulton has remained on the team and practiced last year. LSU was optimistic enough that the second year of the suspension might be lifted that he had been practicing with the first- and second-string defensive units in August.

Head coach Ed Orgeron indicated that Fulton would likely be the starter at one cornerback if eligible.

“Of course, I am very disappointed by this decision,” Orgeron said. “He’s done what we’ve asked him to do and I believe the appeal was a good one. He’s going to keep working and we’re going to stick by him.”

LSU junior cornerback, Kristian Fulton