Deon Cain Among 3 Players Reportedly Sent Home from Orange Bowl by Clemson

In a stunning series of events ahead of Thursday’s Orange Bowl, Clemson has sent home Deon Cain, Ammon Lakip and Jay Jay McCullough on Tuesday for a violation of team rules.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed the suspensions to reporters on Wednesday, adding they are suspended for the entire postseason.

Price Atkinson of ESPN Radio first reported the news on Tuesday, while Aaron Brenner of the Post and Courier corroborated the report and cited failed drug tests as the violation:

All three have a history of disciplinary misconduct. 

Cain, a freshman wide receiver, was benched against Miami this season for what Swinney revealed was a necessary “attitude adjustment,” according to Tony Crumpton of TigerNet.com.

Ironically, Cain indicated he learned from his mistake for his actions that caused him to miss the Miami game just hours before his latest suspension was revealed, per Larry Williams of Rivals.com:

McCullough, a redshirt junior backup tight end, was benched indefinitely for the final four games of last season for an undisclosed violation of team rules then reinstated for spring practice. He was again suspended for academic sanctions in September. 

Lakip, a redshirt senior backup placekicker, missed the first three games this year as punishment for being charged with cocaine possession and driving under the influence in June. 

While Tuesday’s revelation comes as quite a shock, Cain will be the only one of the three to truly affect Clemson’s personnel, as Lakip lost his job to Greg Huegel and hasn’t kicked since, and McCullough hasn’t caught a pass all season. 

Cain, however, is the team’s third-leading receiver with 582 yards and five touchdowns on 34 catches, and No. 1 target Artavis Scott had been playing on a bum knee most of the season before finally undergoing surgery following the ACC title game. Scott is expected to play Thursday, but how effective he’ll be in his first game since the procedure is certainly a concern.

However, Swinney downplayed the bans, telling reporters they were all backups, adding, "It's not a distraction for the team. It's a distraction for me. I have to answer questions about it."

According to Odds Shark, the Tigers are already underdogs for Thursday’s semifinal, despite being college football’s last unbeaten team. Their offense has been prolific behind Heisman Trophy runner-up Deshaun Watson, but they won’t light up the scoreboard in typical fashion against an Oklahoma defense that allows just 201.5 passing yards per game. 

It’s unfortunate to see a trio of scholarship athletes essentially put themselves ahead of the team at a point in the season where everything is on the line.