Former Northern Illinois center Sean Kowal said Monday in a phone interview that he will follow up on any options available to get a release from his scholarship.
“I am going to pursue the options that I have,” Kowal said. “Right now it’s up in the air. We’re going to figure this thing out shortly.”
Asked what those options are at this point, after he has already been denied a release by NIU and then again at an appeal hearing in early July, Kowal replied, “At this point, I’ve been advised not to speak about that. But there are other options.”
Kowal, who has one year left of eligibility, is seeking a transfer to another school to get a master’s degree in theology, which is not offered at NIU. He said he decided to transfer when he found out he was going to graduate.
He said Monday that he initially felt he had the support of NIU coach Ricardo Patton and the athletic department, but things then started, “unraveling, it seems like,” when he made up his mind to transfer.
Kowal also said that he has yet to be given a satisfactory reason why his release has been denied.
“After I had my appeals meeting, they said my future was too uncertain,” Kowal said. “That’s what they told me in person. Then they sent me an official letter and in that letter there was no reasoning.”
An NIU spokesman said Monday that athletic department officials would not comment on Kowal’s latest statements.
“It’s something that obviously this has been an evolving situation for us,” NIU athletic director Jeff Compher said at Friday’s Mid-American Conference football media day in Detroit. “It certainly didn’t start out the way it is now, so I can understand his frustration with the process. But I also believe that with the information we had, we made a decision that was warranted, and I stand by that.”
