The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defense is about to get its biggest test this Saturday and one of its biggest pieces is frustrated at the prospect of missing another game.
According to ESPN, KeiVarae Russell may have to wait another week to find out if the University of Notre Dame (UND) honesty committee finds him guilty of academic dishonesty. However, he said he has been prepared every step of the way, cooperating fully, and yet the investigation is going by maddeningly slow.
His frustration boiled over in an Instagram post he later deleted.
"I killed my meeting; I was so prepared and ready and was able to refute damn near every suspicion they had," he wrote.
"Described details of assignments thoroughly so they couldn't say I didn't do it," read the message. "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 and four teammates are currently suspended for alleged academic violations and their status on the football team is reliant upon the outcome of the ongoing investigation. In the mean time, the 4-0, ninth-ranked Fighting Irish are preparing for the Stanford Cardinal, 1-1 in the Pac-12 but ranked 14th in the nation.
Independent of any FBS subdivision, Notre Dame is scheduled to play Florida State on the road in two weeks and could certainly use Russell, a cornerback to try and stop Jameis Winston and the Seminoles pass attack.
The five hearings are expected to conclude before Saturday's game, but there is not a timetable on the decisions in each case. Unnamed sources previously told ESPN that there will be two hearings Thursday and the last two on Friday.
All five have been taking classes and showing up at the football complex to eat and work out with their strength coach, but Brian Kelly has not allowed them into meetings.