If there is a 2020 college football season, Indiana will have their All-Big Ten tight end.
IU head coach Tom Allen said on a video conference with the media on Tuesday that redshirt junior tight end Peyton Hendershot is “completely cleared and back with the team now fully.”
Hendershot plead guilty in June to a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge. In connection with a plea deal, three other charges were dropped. All of the charges stemmed from a February incident in Bloomington involving an ex-girlfriend.
Hendershot was sentenced to one year probation for the trespass offense, a Class A misdemeanor. He was also required to receive a mental health evaluation and participate in a batterers treatment program.
Allen noted that Hendershot has completed several layers of administrative and judicial review related to the incident including team sanctioned discipline, the student conduct process, and the legal process.
“We have a campus committee that determines if a student athlete is reinstated to a team and able to be cleared, and that is the case,” Allen said.
A starter in all 13 games, Hendershot earned third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and set IU receiving records for tight ends last season with 52 catches and 622 yards. He added four touchdowns.
A North Salem, Ind. product, Hendershot also led the country in yards after the catch among power five tight ends with 432.
Hendershot was not with the team during their four spring practices. In April he rejoined the team in a “modified way” according to Allen.
The 6-foot-4 Hendershot has also been rehabbing a shoulder injury that he suffered during the Gator Bowl.
Based on a follow up by Kevin Brockway of CNHI, Hendershot is not expected to be suspended for any games during the 2020 season.
Hendershot’s availability for games in 2020 will help address one of the bigger question marks on the IU roster.
Matt Bjorson, T.J. Ivy and Gary Cooper are behind Hendershot on the depth chart, and none have significant playing experience as a featured tight end in all phases of the offense.
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