Daily Buzz: A long road back

Published Jul. 26, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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Sam Gardner

Kolton Houston still hasn’t played a regular-season down for the University of Georgia, but after a tenuous 3-1/2-year battle with the NCAA, the Bulldogs offensive lineman will finally be eligible to take the field when the season starts this Fall.

Houston's journey began in 2010, when the Buford, Ga., native and son of former Bulldogs linebacker Shane Houston failed a random drug test shortly after enrolling at Georgia. The younger Houston was shown to have the anabolic steroid 19-norandrosterone in his system, the presence of which earned him a suspension.

That suspension was later replaced with the threat a lifetime ban after failing a second NCAA test, but there was a problem bigger than a series of failed drug tests. Houston wasn’t using performance enhancing drugs, and he wasn’t sure why these tests kept coming up positive.

As it turned out, the positive tests were linked to a professionally administered steroid injection following surgery before Houston was ever enrolled at Georgia. The steroid was stuck in his system — likely a result of poor aim by the doctor who administered it — with seemingly no way of getting it out.

For years, Houston and the Bulldogs medical team have contended that Houston was not using the drug, all while Houston continued to fail regular drug screenings. And for years — and over the course of dozens more drug tests — that meant nothing to the NCAA, so long as the substance was still in his system.

According to ESPN, Houston "tried multiple methods of getting the drug out of his body through the years, including an aggressive massage regime, sweat therapy sessions and even surgery, where doctors removed the fatty tissue where the drug seemed to be concentrated." But nothing was providing the quick fix Houston desired.

Over time, and however slowly, Houston's steroid levels did continue to drop — the NCAA limit is 2.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood, and his original test showed 260 nanograms — and finally, on Thursday, Houston’s 22nd birthday, the good news came: He had been granted reinstatement after meeting the exit threshold in his latest NCAA drug screening.

“This is the best birthday present I’ve ever had,” Houston said in a statement. “I had almost reached the point where I thought this situation would never end. When I got the call, I broke down and cried for about 30 minutes. I had that much emotion stored up and it felt good to get it out. I’m ready now to show what I can do.”

Houston has two years of eligibility left, and could apply for a third if he so desired. But after three years of working to overturn a suspension for a steroid he wasn’t taking, there’s not much reason to believe that will be an easy task, either.

Now, for some links:

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• Here are the full details of Jacob Karam's touching moment playing piano for an 11-year-old leukemia patient.

• An independent league shortstop handled a wild ricochet off of second base to get the out:

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