EUGENE, Ore. -- Suspended running back LeGarrette Blount has been reinstated by the University of Oregon and will be eligible to play Saturday when Oregon hosts Arizona State.
Blount released the following statement: "I'm grateful to Coach Kelly that he cares enough to offer me this second chance... Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise."
Oregon initially suspended Blount for the season because he punched Boise State's Byron Hout on the field after the opener in Idaho.
Speculation over whether Blount would be reinstated had been building for some time. Blount met with the Pac-10 and Ducks athletics officials last weekend. The decision had to be approved by Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott and Ducks head coach Chip Kelly.
Scott confirmed that after reviewing the situation he was "convinced LeGarrette Blount paid a significant and appropriate price for the mistakes he made on the field, and that he has learned important lifelong lessons."
Mike Bellotti, the athletics director for Oregon, said he felt Blount had done "everything that's been asked of him" in order to be reinstated, according to the Eugene Register Guard. He said he was pleased with the decision and thought it "made a statement about Oregon athletics and what we expect of our athletes."
University President Lariviere called Blount's behavior "reprehensible."
Commissioner Scott, who had been in attendance at the game, thanked Kelly and the university for their "swift and decisive action" in suspending Blount, who had already been suspended once during training camp for a "failure to meet team obligations," according to Bellotti.
The Oregon Ducks lost to Stanford over the weekend, 51-42, costing the team any shot at a Bowl Championship Series title game. With the win, Stanford became bowl-game eligible for the first time in eight years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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