Donald De La Haye, the Central Florida kicker who got into some hot water with the school over his YouTube videos, has been ruled ineligible.
De La Haye is a marketing major and the videos are a good learning tool for him in his chosen career path.
He met with the university a month ago to see if he could get a waiver to make money on the videos. UCF said in a statement that it had sent the waiver to the NCAA on his behalf, and they agreed he could continue to make the videos, with conditions, mainly not selling ads to videos about his athletic endeavors.
NCAA statement regarding Donald De La Haye. pic.twitter.com/0W2YCbEBrF
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) July 31, 2017
But, he didn't want to comply, and UCF ruled him ineligible.
“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," UCF said in a statement. "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 the NCAA-sanctioned competition. UCF Athletics wishes him the best in his future endeavors.”
De La Haye released a video in early June saying that some people at UCF "aren't happy with my videos, and they feel like I'm violating NCAA rules."
That video was watched more than 178,000 times. Since that came out, his subscribers have gone from 54,000 to more than 91,000.
De La Haye was the kickoff specialist for the Knights, with 73 kicks for 4,441 yards, averaging 60.8 yards per kick with 37 touchbacks
