YORK - Defensive linemen Ed Johnson, Matthew Rice and Lavon Chisley are eligible for and participating in summer practice, according to Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and Director of Judicial Affairs Joe Puzycki.

During a speech at a York Outdoor Country Club fundraiser June 18, Paterno said the players were eligible to work this summer.

Chisley, who was not allowed to practice during the spring while appealing Judicial Affairs charges, is back on the team after winning his appeal. He was fingerprinted for sexual assault allegations stemming from a Nov. 23 incident, but University Police filed no charges against him in that case.

A statement by Paterno, made on April 16, said Johnson, a redshirt sophomore on the interior line, and Rice, a redshirt junior defensive end, would be suspended through the spring and summer practice.

"[Johnson] and [Rice] will not be members of the football team through the summer," Paterno said in the press release. "Their role with the football team will be reviewed at a time when we are able to determine what is best for them and the football team."

Though the release said the players were suspended for the spring and summer, Judicial Affairs' sanctions only suspended Johnson and Rice from spring practice, Puzycki said.

"The sanction that they had did not allow them to compete through the spring while on deferred suspension," he said. "Once the summer started, they would be on probationary status for the summer and allowed to compete."

Puzycki said Johnson and Rice were permitted to continue taking classes while serving their suspensions.

The disciplinary action taken against Johnson and Rice stems from a Feb. 7 incident in which Johnson, Rice and Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson were involved in an altercation around 4 a.m. at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion during the annual Black Ice party sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

No criminal charges were filed from the incident.

"They were wrong. They were in a fight, which everybody blew out of whack, all right," Paterno said at the fundraiser. "I mean, you guys [the media] don't want to hear that, but you did. You made it sound like they started it. And whatever the Judicial Affairs people tell me, that's what I do."

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha described the incident as "horrifying," with some people using bottles and objects in a "bar-style" fight.

Damages to the ice rink totaled about $560.

Robinson, who was injured in the fight and received stitches on his cheek, had a "not as aggressive" role in the fight, Paterno said, and was placed on probation by Judicial Affairs.