per AJC.com
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Four North Carolina State football players -- including two potential starters -- have been ruled academically ineligible for this season.
Senior tailback Cotra Jackson and senior defensive end Terrence Chapman, projected as key players for the Wolfpack, weren't able to restore their academic standing during summer school, head coach Chuck Amato said Saturday. Neither were sophomore free safety J.J. Jones or tailback Carlos Doggett, a fifth-year senior.
"Losing players who have been a part of the team -- that hurts," Amato said Saturday after the team's first preseason scrimmage. "We've got to pick up the pieces and go from there. Life will go on."
Amato said he hoped Jackson, the backup tailback in 2000 who started at fullback last year, would remain in school. He has a redshirt year available and could regain his eligibility.
The same is true for Chapman, a junior college transfer who led the Wolfpack with seven sacks last year, and Jones, who played in five games last season and is one of the team's quickest players.
Doggett doesn't have that opportunity. Amato said Doggett could help with coaching while concentrating on his schoolwork.
The loss of Jackson and Doggett means that N.C. State will enter the season without a tailback who has carried the ball in a college game.
Freshman T.A. McLendon, redshirt freshman Josh Brown and converted cornerback Greg Golden are vying for a spot in the backfield. McLendon missed Saturday's scrimmage with an injury.
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