NCAA has had Texas TE Devonaire Clarington's paperwork for a month

At times, the NCAA's treatment of potential student-athletes seems borderline criminal.

The latest travesty? Texas Longhorns tight end signee Devonaire Clarington is still in limbo with the governing body of college athletics, even though he told the Austin American-Statesman that he submitted his paperwork a month ago.

Think about that -- the consensus four-star prospect and most important tight end signee for Texas in a decade isn't able to practice with his future team or even make alternative plans to continue his football career somewhere else because a month isn't long enough for the NCAA to make a decision. To describe the hell in which he currently resides as maddening is probably an understatement.

So it's no surprise to see a tweet like this from the player who nicknamed himself Devo:

My dream is really slipping away from me .

— The beat go off? (@dev_go_deep) August 12, 2015

The belief is that Clarington has the test grades necessary to receive clearance from the NCAA, so his transcript is the likely issue after he attended  numerous high schools over the last four years. However, that's not a legitmate excuse for such a lengthy delay.

The other Texas signee who is still awaiting clearance from the NCAA is Huntsville offensive tackle Buck Major.

Since running back D'Onta Foreman didn't receive his clearance until August 14 of last year, the hope is that there will be some news for Clarington and Major in the next several days.

Until then, #FREEDEVO.