NCAA Denies Justin McCay's Waiver Request Appeal

May 2, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The NCAA Subcommittee for Legislative Relief said Wednesday it has denied Kansas sophomore wide receiver Justin McCay’s eligibility waiver request appeal. With the denial by the subcommittee, McCay will have to sit out the 2012 season and will be eligible to compete for the Jayhawks in 2013 as a junior.

“Today we received notice from the subcommittee that they rejected Justin McCay’s appeal to be able to play immediately,” said Kansas football head coach Charlie Weis. “They informed our compliance officer that there wasn’t that one catastrophic event evident to rule in his favor.

“I’m extremely disappointed that common sense did not prevail. I have read all of the information on this case and it is a shame that this case resulted in a rejection. I cannot release all of the details of Justin’s case as it would be an invasion of his privacy. I can only say that the University of Kansas felt the evidence was overwhelmingly in his favor. I also do not understand why the NCAA had us appeal this case to the subcommittee only to have received the same answer with the same rationale.”

McCay, who received the news Wednesday afternoon, was equally disappointed.

“This is a very disappointing day for me and my family,” said McCay, who transferred to Kansas from Oklahoma in January. “I was very hopeful throughout the process that I would receive a more favorable result, but unfortunately that is not how things turned out.

“I am so grateful to all of the people who worked so hard on my behalf throughout this process. First of all, I would like to thank the compliance staff at KU for all of the effort they put in to submitting my waiver request. I would also like to thank the Athletics Director at the University of Oklahoma, Joe Castiglione, for his assistance and support. Lastly, I would like to thank Coach Weis, the entire KU staff and all of my teammates in supporting me during this process. It was a long, difficult process, and I truly appreciate all of the support they gave me along the way.

“Despite the disappointment I am feeling today, I have no regrets. I am very happy to be at Kansas and I am going to go out and work hard every day to be the best teammate I can be. Even though I won’t be playing in games this year I am going to take advantage of every opportunity I have to improve as a player.”