Mizzou DT Rashad Brandon receives clearance to return to practice

Missouri junior defensive tackle Rashad Brandon has been cleared to return to practice, a team spokesman told The Star on Friday evening.

Brandon, a transfer from ASA College in Brooklyn, N.Y., was an early enrollee and participated in spring practice.

He was among the brightest stars in the Tigers’ annual Black & Gold Spring Game, but the NCAA decided to review his eligibility at some point in the last four months.

Brandon missed the first two weeks of training camp and will have to ease into practice with three helmets-only practices before he’s allowed to don shoulder pads and rejoin camp in earnest.

Second-year coach Barry Odom said Friday after practice he expected Brandon to be cleared that afternoon, but it must be a relief to add more depth on the interior of the defensive line.

Fellow junior defensive tackle Walter Palmore, a transfer from Eastern Arizona College, missed the first week of training camp before he was cleared.

Brandon and Palmore join a rotation that includes senior A.J. Logan, junior Terry Beckner Jr., sophomores Markell Utsey and Tyrell Jacobs, and freshmen Kobie Whiteside and Caleb Sampson.

If and when Palmore’s former juco teammate, Malik Young, is cleared to practice with Mizzou, he would further bolster that interior line depth.

This story was originally published August 11, 2017 at 9:56 PM with the headline "Mizzou DT Rashad Brandon receives clearance to return to practice."