The specifics of Louis Young’s suspension:

- Young had arranged to sell his complimentary tickets for the Georgia game to a female UGA fan.

- When the person arrived to pick up the tickets, she asked the ticket rep if she could exchange the four tickets in her name for just two tickets that were in a better location. The ticket rep asked why the player would have left four tickets for her instead of just two and the individual responded that Young hadn’t “left” the tickets for her, he had sold them to her. This is different than what was reported over the weekend, but I’m confident this series of events is what occurred.

- The ticket rep then notified a supervisor, who then notified athletic department personnel, who then (after the game) notified AD Dan Radakovich and Coach Johnson.

- The trail then goes from Compliance at Georgia Tech to the ACC and then to the NCAA, all within a matter of days.

- December 19, 2011 a school spokesman announced Young would be suspended for the bowl game for a violation of team rules.

Additional information

There is no blame to put on Georgia Tech in this situation. As soon as the correct people in the athletic department and the administration were made aware of what Young had done, it was immediately forwarded to the school’s compliance department and then the conference and then the NCAA.

With the school’s recent run-ins with the NCAA still fresh in their minds, everyone at Tech proceeded by the letter of the NCAA’s rules in this matter. The school did announce “violation of team rules” instead of “NCAA violation” and deserves criticism for that. But it’s minor.

As for still not officially announcing that Young is suspended for the season-opening game vs. Virginia Tech, Coach Johnson has said a list of any players not available for that game will be announced the week before kickoff.

There is a possibility that Georgia Tech would have already announced the suspension if the team’s schedule had come together in a slightly different way. The school thought it had a deal worked out with Savannah State to play the opening weekend of the 2012 season. But before it became official, both Oklahoma State and FSU offered more money to Savannah State for the first two weekends of the season and Savannah State signed contracts with both schools.

Tech was then in the position of replacing Savannah State with another program of the same caliber and felt it was within days of achieving that. During those few days the ACC contacted Georgia Tech and instructed the school to agree to the opening weekend matchup vs. Virginia Tech. Make no mistake about it, that game is being played because of the ACC, not Georgia Tech. Thus, Coach Johnson is even more tight-lipped regarding his players than normal.

Expect Louis Young to see the field for the first time on September 8 vs. Presbyterian. There is a chance he won't hit the field, though, until the Virginia game.