UCF Kicker Making YouTube Ad Money Ruled Ineligible After He Declines NCAA Waiver Terms

UCF yesterday announced that K Donald De La Haye has been "ruled ineligible" for the upcoming football season after "continuing to receive advertising money for his YouTube videos," according to Romero & Murschel of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. De La Haye and NCAA officials "could not reach an agreement that would keep him in the field." Once De La Haye "declined the NCAA’s waiver terms, UCF suspended him to avoid repercussions for working with a player the NCAA was likely to later rule ineligible." De La Haye said, "Every time I step into that compliance building, I hear nothing but bad news. I’m ruled ineligible because I refuse to de-monetize my videos, something that I’ve worked so hard for. Something that I have put blood, sweat and tears into. Something that I eat, sleep, breathe about. ... and I get deemed ineligible to continue playing college sports because of it." Most of De La Haye’s 59 videos "document his daily life as a UCF athlete." His channel has "jumped from 63,275 subscribers in June to 89,954 shortly after UCF announced he was ineligible."  De La Haye "could opt to sue the NCAA in an effort to restore his eligibility" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 8/1). NCAA PR Dir Stacey Osburn tweeted, "To clarify misreporting, UCF declared Donald De La Haye ineligible, not the NCAA" (TWITTER.com, 7/31).

MAKING A STAND: In N.Y., Hannah Withiam writes the NCAA has "turned another student-athlete’s case into a stamp on its supremacy." Even if he "didn’t get the happy ending he wanted, De La Haye appears determined to turn his situation into an example for other student-athletes limited in their extracurriculars and finances by the billion-dollar organization" (N.Y. POST, 8/1). SI.com's Andy Staples writes, "De La Haye chose to stand up to an organization hardly anyone wants to defend, so he’ll probably garner quite a bit of sympathy and possibly some donations on his GoFundMe page" (SI.com, 8/1).

POINTING FINGERS: In Orlando, Mike Bianchi writes De La Haye has "made a big mistake." He has "chosen to become a cause célèbre against the NCAA over receiving a full-ride scholarship to kick a football and free advertising to market his controversial and entertaining YouTube videos." Bianchi: "De La Haye is a good kid who has received bad advice." The "popular and predictable stance is to portray UCF and the NCAA as the big, bad bullies against the poor, exploited college athlete." Bianchi: "Except that’s not what happened." The NCAA "gave De La Haye an option." He could "make all the money he wanted on videos in which he didn’t represent himself as a UCF football player." But he made the "decision to give up his scholarship instead" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 8/1).