Tech's Golden granted fifth year of eligibilty

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech's Jamal Golden, a return specialist in 2012, has received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA.

Golden, who played as a true freshman in 2011 and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors as a sophomore in 2012 as a specialist, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the third game of the 2013 season against North Carolina. With the waiver, the Wetumpka (Ala.) product enters the 2014 season as a junior with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

"While we anticipated that Jamal would receive the waiver, I am happy for him," head coach Paul Johnson said. "I know it was difficult for him to watch from the sidelines last season, but he has worked hard to get healthy and he is eager to get started again this spring."

As a sophomore in 2012, Golden was the only player to rank in the top 10 nationally in both punt return average (sixth/14.59) and kick return average (10th/28.35). Golden was named Tech's special teams player of the year and earned specialist of the game honors in the 2012 Hyundai Sun Bowl victory over Southern California.

Prior to the 2012 season no Georgia Tech player had returned a kickoff for a touchdown since 1998, yet Golden returned two kicks for TDs