If all goes right for Leonard Fournette this weekend, he will turn attention back to his Heisman Trophy candidacy and away from embarrassing revelations that LSU is reviewing whether one of his family’s business ventures violated NCAA rules.
The encouraging news for LSU’s star running back is that he is expected to play Saturday night against Arkansas, which would not be the case if university compliance officials had found evidence of a likely violation, a person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no one has publicly discussed details of the ongoing review, said LSU compliance officials adhere to a practice of proactively banning athletes from play any time there are serious concerns about a possible violation, even if coaches protest.
In Fournette’s case, LSU already had looked into matter once before in 2014, after the short-lived launch of the family’s online store, which was designed to sell “BUGA Nation” products, the person said.
The university determined in its initial probe that no violations had occurred, the person said, adding that the current review was launched out of due diligence to make sure nothing was missed the first time because Fournette is a high-profile player.