Price’s status remains uncertain

The return of freshman defensive tackle Brian Price to the UCLA team remains blocked by the NCAA Clearinghouse, which is sorting through his paperwork.

The holdup is believed to center on the calculation of Price’s grade-point average. He attended Crenshaw High in Los Angeles but also took classes at California Technical High to improve grades his sophomore year. That paperwork had not arrived at the Clearinghouse as of last week.

UCLA received Price’s transcripts in early July and team officials believed there was nothing wrong with the paperwork or information. However, Price was pulled off the practice field before the Bruins’ second practice on Aug. 7 after NCAA officials requested more information. He is not permitted to work out with the team or attend meetings.

Price, considered the best freshman on the team, must be cleared before classes start on Sept. 24 or else he cannot enroll at the university for the fall quarter. UCLA does not accept non-qualifiers.

Coach Karl Dorrell would not comment, other than saying, “We did everything and Brian’s family did everything. All we can do is wait for it to unfold.”

Center Chris Joseph was held out of workouts Saturday because of a hip flexor injury. He is expected to return for Monday’s practice -- the Bruins are off today.

Micah Reed, who like Joseph is making the transition from guard to center, was given more time with the first unit.

“I had a pretty good spring and coach told me to be ready in case somebody gets hurt,” said Reed, a junior.

“I’ve been reading my playbook, just getting ready for when my time comes.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com