Northern Illinois granted former center Sean Kowal his release from the school late Tuesday night, Director of Athletics Jeff Compher told the Daily Chronicle on Wednesday morning, ending a back-and-forth process that started with Kowal’s decision to transfer in mid-June.
Compher said Kowal was able to provide the school with more specific information about what he intends to pursue academically – a master’s degree in theology, a program NIU does not offer – and what schools offer that program which helped lead to the release.
Kowal was initially denied the release by NIU and at an appeals hearing in early July.
“Some of it was timing. Initially we didn’t know the program nor the universities that he was interested in going to,” Compher said. “In this particular situation, with him being a graduate, in order for the waiver from our perspective to work, it kind of had to be a unique program to the university that we did not offer here at NIU.”
Kowal, who has one year of eligibility left, graduated earlier this summer and did so in four years. Under NCAA rules, he is allowed a one-time transfer exception as a graduated player with eligibility remaining pursuing a graduate degree at another school. Kowal still has to be given a waiver by the NCAA to be eligible to play this season.
“It was certainly unique in I haven’t had too many student-athletes take advantage of this rule over the course of time that I’ve been in this business,” Compher said. “I think the timing of it all was restrictive. With us not even being aware of this until mid-June, it certainly added a different wrinkle to the process.”
Kowal said felt “relieved” that the process was over.
“This whole process was new to me and it seems like it was new to everyone at NIU,” Kowal said. “I obviously was working with the NCAA through the entire thing. They advised me what I was doing was the correct way. I suppose I could have given more detail, but the NCAA advised me that I was doing it the correct way.”
He will be granted a release to five schools from a list of schools that offer the theology program he plans to enter. Kowal said he had to narrow down his list of potential schools to five to provide to NIU to send out his release. Kowal confirmed that none of the five schools are in the Mid-American Conference.
“It’s a very unique situation,” Kowal said. “It’s ‘shoulda,’ ‘woulda,’ ‘coulda.’ But I’m glad that things were able to be worked out and handled the right way.”
