Notre Dame cornerback KeiVarae Russell expressed frustration Wednesday with how long the appeals process is taking for he and four other Irish players who currently are suspended.
He expressed his views in an Instagram post: "Noooo, still not back. It sucks. Hearing went well in my opinion thought. Was able to express my case from my POV and bring to light alot of what was false 'evidence.' But they are making me wait till every hearing is done to make a decision ... it sucks."
CSNChicago.com reported that in a later comment, which was later deleted, Russell said, "This school is becoming ridiculous. I killed my meeting; I was so prepared and ready and was able to refute damn near every suspicion they had. Described details of assignments thoroughly so they couldn't say I didn't do it, AND THEY STILL SAID MY DECISION WONT COME UNTIL ALL 5 OF US (and some other minor hearings) ARE DONE. Decision MIGHT come next week, not even 100% it's tough to understand these people."
Russell, wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, defensive end Ishaq Williams and linebacker Kendall Moore were suspended Aug. 15; safety Eilar Hardy was suspended Aug. 28. In a release announcing the four suspensions Aug. 15, the school said it found evidence late in the summer that students had turned in papers and homework that had been written for them by others and referred that evidence on July 29 to the compliance office on athletics.
Daniels, Russell and Williams were projected starters, and Russell had been expected to be the leader of the secondary. Daniels was Notre Dame's leading returning receiver.
Coach Brian Kelly has allowed the players to work with the team's strength and conditioning staff, but they haven't been allowed to practice or attend team meetings.
Notre Dame has started 4-0 and plays host to Stanford on Saturday.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.