Following the news of Florida quarterback Will Grier's failed NCAA drug test following what he asserts was taking an over the counter supplement that he did not clear with Florida's medical staff, I wondered, what kind of supplements would cause a player to fail a test?
If a player, coach or parent wanted clear, demonstrative guidance from the NCAA on what is and is not allowed, is that information made clearly available to them by the NCAA? In light of the Grier news, that's what I really wanted to know.
Certainly, one would think there is a website maintained by the NCAA that lists all banned substances and allowances, etc... Right? Right? Has to be, right? It's 2015, right?
Well, the answer in this case, is.... you guessed it: Wrong.
The NCAA does not maintain a publicly available website listing banned substances.
Here's the path I went down, follow along kids:
First, I Googled: NCAA banned substances list and I got this: http://www.ncaa.org/2015-16-ncaa-banned-drugs (sounded like the right place but alas...almost nothing there)
So, I clicked on this http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2015-16%20NCAA%20Banned%20Drugs.pdf
That's a pdf of the "2015-2016 NCAA Banned Drugs"
But, alas, the NCAA has a note on that pdf that "Additional examples of banned drugs can be found at www.ncaa.org/drugtesting."
So I went there. Nope, nothing on that webpage.
So, I clicked on "Banned Drugs Poster."
Nothing but a bunch of bullets...and a link to www.drugfreesport.com/rec
You guessed it, nothing there. Well, they do give you a generic NCAA1 password to use, which I did...and got nothing. You then have to register with your email and they will respond to you via email.
WTF people. This is 2015. Put up a webpage. THAT. IS. ALL.
Oh, so, back to the tweet above, about could drinking a 5-hour energy cause a player to fail an NCAA drug test. So, the NCAA does have this pdf available on one of those various webpages I visited.
Is that clear? "May result in a positive drug test". Hmmm.... NO! What is wrong with you people? C'mon man, NCAA. Do something right.
So, would 5 Hour Energy really cause a failed drug test. I asked a coach, his response was, if it was taken anytime close to the test, 75% chance you fail.
What? 75% chance? What is that? NCAA, clarify your guidance. This is ridiculous.
[Note: Post was updated to remove references that Florida QB Will Grier had reportedly been suspended for testing positive for Ligandrol. Florida's media relations staff has now told reporters that this is not what he tested positive for....but they won't say what it was for.]