Notre Dame CB KeiVarae Russell Will Miss Entire Season Due to Academic Scandal

If Notre Dame is going to make a run to the College Football Playoff, it will have to do so without cornerback KeiVarae Russell. He was one of the players suspended before the season after an investigation into academic scandal and has been told he's out all year. 

According to Keith Arnold of NBC Sports, Notre Dame's Honor Committee informed Russell of his season-long suspension:

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The preseason All-American candidate has received news from Notre Dame’s Honor Committee and addressed his teammates with the news on Thursday, two different sources confirmed.

Russell plans on returning to South Bend and the Irish football team. There has been speculation that the third-year cornerback was considering a jump to the NFL after the season, though that move isn’t happening now according to sources.

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Douglas Farmer of 247Sports had Russell's full statement:

Per Adam Shear of Fox 28 in South Bend, Russell and the other four players who were suspended are still enrolled at Notre Dame:

Russell did generate some controversy on October 2 when Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com reported the star cornerback was venting his frustration with the school and the process of getting reinstated in an Instagram post that has since been deleted:

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I killed my meeting; I was so prepared and ready and was able to refute damn near every suspicion they had. Described details of assignments thoroughly so they couldn't say I didn't do it 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.

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While Russell's absence does hurt Notre Dame on the field this year, it has to provide head coach Brian Kelly some relief knowing he will likely have arguably his best defensive player back for the 2015 season. Russell tallied 51 tackles and one interception last year. 

The Fighting Irish have been able to withstand the loss of Russell and the other four suspended players thus far, going 5-0 and moving up to No. 6 in The Associated Press rankings. They will play North Carolina this week before a trip to Tallahassee against Florida State on October 18.