UCF kicker Donald De La Haye has been ruled ineligible after continuing to receive advertising money for his YouTube videos, the school announced Monday.
Knights coach Scott Frost said last week during the start of preseason camp De La Haye was a member of the team and the UCF Athletics Association worked to seek an NCAA waiver that would allow De La Haye to keep posting YouTube videos while competing for the Knights.
De La Haye and NCAA officials, however, 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.
It is unclear whether De La Haye, who posted on his Twitter account Monday he was shocked by the decision, will take his argument to court. Some advocacy groups have already expressed their support for him.
UCF's statement on the kicker released Monday read:
"The waiver, which was granted, stated De La Haye could maintain his eligibility and continue to monetize videos that did not reference his status as a student-athlete or depict his football skill or ability. The waiver also allowed him to create videos that referenced his status as a student-athlete or depict his football skill or ability if they were posted to a non-monetized account. De La Haye chose not to accept the conditions of the waiver and has therefore been ruled ineligible to compete in NCAA-sanctioned competition. UCF Athletics wishes him the best in his future endeavors."
De La Haye said during one of his videos he planned to send money earned via the YouTube ads home to his struggling family. He said it was a dream come true to both play college football and make advertising revenue off his passion for creating videos.
A representative from UCF's compliance office alerted De La Haye in early June he was risking his NCAA amateur status by receiving money for advertising linked to his popular YouTube channel.
About a week after the meeting on June 18, De La Haye said in a video posted on his channel that he struggled before deciding, "I'm not stopping for anybody."
He later added, "I'm going to upload regularly to this channel. I'm not stopping that. I'm not demonetizing. I refuse to. So it's out of my hands now.
"The decision is in the NCAA's hands, whether they want to suspend me or whether they want to let me do me."
NCAA bylaw 12.4.4 addresses athlete self-employment.
The rule states an athlete "may establish his or her own business, provided the student-athlete's name, photograph, appearance or athletics reputation are not used to promote the business."
Most of De La Haye's 59 videos document his daily life as a UCF athlete. The kicker's channel has jumped from 63,275 subscribers in June to 89,954 shortly after UCF announced he was ineligible Monday.
The NCAA released a statement noting De La Haye "could monetize his video activity as long as it was not based on his athletics, reputation, prestige or ability."
De La Haye ultimately declined to comply with the NCAA conditions and appeared to react to the news with a short tweet Monday afternoon that read, "Unbelievable." He later added in a tweet, "I'm really mind blown!"
He wrote in another tweet, "All I wanted was to keep inspiring and motivating others through my content. Didn't know it would cost me my education."
De La Haye could opt to sue the NCAA in an effort to restore his eligibility.
The debate about college athletes' rights to own and profit off of their brand and likeness versus the NCAA's right to profit has been the subject of antitrust debates for years. Former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon famously sued the NCAA in 2015 and won after arguing the organization's amateurism rules violate antitrust law.
Advocacy agencies such as the National College Players Association are supporting players, arguing they should be free to promote their brand and likeness with jeopardizing their chances to compete.
"He should have equal rights under the law and no one else on that campus is prevented from having success on YouTube and being compensated," NCPA President Ramogi Huma told the Orlando Sentinel in June. "No other student on that campus is subjected to that restriction."
Before De La Haye declined to comply with the NCAA waiver and was ruled ineligible, Frost said he supported the kicker.
"Donald's a member of our team. I think he's working through with the issues with the NCAA right now. He's a valuable member of our team and I hope it all works out for him," Frost said. "We're going to do everything we can to make it work as long as he can come to an agreement with the NCAA."
De La Haye played in all 13 games last season as a kickoff specialist at UCF. The Knights posted a 6-7 and reached the AutoNation Cure Bowl one season after posting a winless record. He kicked off 73 times for 4,441 yards, averaging 60.8 yards per kick, and totaled 37 touchbacks.
