NCAA expected to rule on Texas TE Devonaire Clarington this week

The eligibility saga of Texas Longhorns tight end signee Devonaire Clarington should come to a conclusion when the NCAA releases a ruling some time this week, head coach Charlie Strong said during a media availability on Tuesday.

The Miami product told the Austin American-Statesman that the NCAA received his paperwork a month ago, suggesting that the governing body didn't make a decision during that time. But then there were some major twists on Friday -- the Statesman reported, through a source, that the NCAA actually cleared Clarington shortly after receiving his paperwork, but that the hold up was on the Texas side.

However, Strong denied that was the case, as reports from Orangebloods did on Friday.

"Everything is good with the university," Strong said.

So there's now reportedly a review by ACT administrators of Clarington's results, a review that is taking place because his ACT score of 26 raised suspicion as being out of line with his other academic scores.

To provide some context for that result, the average at Texas for students admitted is 29, but the average composite score for Florida students is only 19.6, and Clarington allegedly experienced academic issues early in high school that put his eventual eligibility into significant question.

It's not clear what type of role Texas would play in assessing the validity of Clarington's ACT score, but the fact that Strong said the university is ready to admit him sounds like cautious good news. And if the issue isn't with his high school transcript, as originally suspected, that may also represent good news for the odds of getting the talented tight end on campus.

At least, receiving the ruling will, whatever it ends up being, will allow Clarington to move on with his life after an interminable wait.