The former star running back, after more than three years in prison, started summer classes on Monday.
Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett, who helped lead Ohio State to the 2002 national championship before spending more than three years in prison for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, is taking classes again Ohio State.
Clarett, 26, enrolled for the start of a summer session that began on Monday, with his major listed as Consumer and Family Financial Services. In a statement released through the university, Clarett said, "This is a surreal feeling to be back at Ohio State in such a supportive environment. I have looked forward to being back in school and I'm doing my best to fit in with other students. I don't want to be distraction or nuisance to the football team or to students on campus."
His return continues a complex relationship between the former player and the school. The former running back was ruled ineligible for the 2003 football season for receiving extra benefits, then later made allegations of financial and academic misconduct in the athletic department that led to an NCAA investigation.
He was drafted in the third round of 2005 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, and after he was cut by the team, he talked with OSU coach Jim Tressel several times while trying to get his life in order. But on Jan. 1, 2006, as the Buckeyes were in Arizona preparing for the Fiesta Bowl, Clarett was charged with aggravated robbery. Before he faced those charges, he was arrested on Aug. 9, 2006, after a police chase, for having a gun hidden in his SUV.
Maurice Clarett in April as he was released from prison into a halfway house.After a guilty plea that September, he was sentenced to seven-and-half years in prison, but was moved from the Toledo Correctional Institution to a halfway house in Columbus in April.
And now he is back at Ohio State, though, obviously, not as a football player. Just a student.
"Maurice Clarett has been granted re-entry into The Ohio State University, following a review by the College of Education and Human Ecology, where he was originally enrolled," OSU spokesman Jim Lynch said.
And the story continues.