Florida coach Jim McElwain, in speaking to reporters at the SEC's spring meetings in Destin on Tuesday, revealed that suspended rising sophomore Antonio Callaway has yet to actually start that sophomore year of college.
McElwain says Antonio Callaway is not in Summer A classes.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) May 31, 2016
"That's being handled," McElwain says of situation. #Gators
This is just the status quo for Callaway, whose suspension began in January and is related to an alleged violation of Florida's student code of conduct. Gainesville lawyer and frequent Gator defender Huntley Johnson called for Callaway to be reinstated in March, and Callaway himself hinted at a desire to remain with the Gators in late April. An Instagram account believed to be Callaway's most recently posted a picture of him in Florida uniform with the caption "To be continued..." last Wednesday.
Florida sources are being about as tight-lipped with the Callaway story — which also involves the similarly suspended Treon Harris, whose importance has apparently eroded so significantly that no reporter is even asking about his whereabouts, though 247Sports' Thomas Goldkamp did turn up a civil suit against him filed by Gainesville apartment complex University House for unpaid rent that I believe is largely unrelated to his suspension — as they ever have been with anything in my experience.
(The suit against Harris for unpaid rent is likely far more minor than the more than $2,000 it seeks makes it sound. Several Gainesville apartment complexes promptly file suit against delinquent tenants in an effort to scare them into paying rent, something I learned while considering breaking my lease at a different complex. A brief records search turns up a handful of other similar cases in which University House has been a plaintiff, suggesting that they aren't among the more litigious complexes, however — and, well, Harris should probably pay his rent.)
But one common theme I've heard is that Callaway's return is likely contingent on him having the patience to wait for the process to play out, then take care of academics.
And there's no reason to believe that anything about his status has changed since it was revealed, allowing for narratives to curdle into "no progress" takes. Callaway not being enrolled in Summer A classes is significant, I guess, because I'd take that to mean he's also not enrolled in the somewhat more leisurely Summer C classes that begin at the same time but run through early August. But Florida also has a Summer B term, which begins in late June, and Callaway would very likely be eligible for those classes if reinstated.
Of course, everything in Callaway's case — and Harris's — hinges on the results of whatever the university does in vetting the allegations against them. We almost certainly won't know what those results are until they're announced.
So we're still playing the waiting game. It may behoove us fans, though, to realize that Callaway and Harris are playing their own versions, ones with far more at stake than the fortunes of the team we like.