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Five Penn players tested positive for drugs, sources tell student newspaper

Penn's student newspaper reported Friday that five Quakers men's basketball players were suspended for a game last week for failing random drug tests.

Penn's student newspaper reported Friday that five Quakers men's basketball players were suspended for a game last week for failing random drug tests.

After the 83-60 loss at Delaware on Dec. 21, coach Jerome Allen said the players - Miles Cartwright, Steve Rennard, Tony Hicks, Henry Brooks, and Darien Nelson-Henry - were suspended for violating team rules.

The Daily Pennsylvanian, however, citing an anonymous source, said that the players were disciplined for failing drug tests.

The report on the paper's website said it was unknown what drugs or masking agents had been identified in the tests, or who had administered them.

Penn's director of communications, Mike Mahoney, declined to comment on the reported failed drug tests when contacted by The Inquirer. Allen said last week that he suspended the players for disciplinary reasons and did not elaborate.

The NCAA maintains a drug-testing program, and players caught by the NCAA are banned for one calendar year. Schools are not required to run their own programs, but several do. Suspensions as a result of positive tests in a school's program are up to the school.

The report, citing rules and regulations published by Penn's Athletics Compliance Office, said Penn "does not promote drug-testing of its student-athletes except when there is cause or suspicion of abuse." The report also said those rules are unclear as to the length of a suspension for a positive result on a university-administered test.

However, the Daily Pennsylvanian cited two anonymous sources saying the players are expected to be reinstated for Saturday's game at Wagner.