Clemson Tigers offensive lineman Zach Giella and tight end Braden Galloway will miss the 2019 season after the NCAA denied an appeal of their failed drug tests that also kept them out of the College Football Playoff.
They were found to have trace amounts of the banned substance Ostarine in the late-December drug tests.
An attorney for the players, Robert Ariail, revealed the decision by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards on Friday morning. The players had argued that the positive result was likely due to contamination, but an independent lab was unable to find any evidence after testing 27 supplements and products, according to The Greenville News.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence also tested positive and missed the Tigers’ title run, but has since been drafted by the New York Giants in the NFL.
The decision ends the college career for Giella, who only had one season of eligibility remaining. Galloway will have two years remaining when he is reinstated in 2020.
Ostarine, also known by its generic name enobosarm, is a muscle builder that falls into a class of drugs called Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs). The drug, banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2008, has been shown to produce similar results to anabolic steroids without the many dangerous side effects.
Ostarine currently is being researched as a treatment for a variety of muscle-wasting diseases such as osteoporosis, muscular dystrophy and chemotherapy in cancer patients.
