Kowal will not return for senior season

Senior center Sean Kowal will not return to Northern Illinois University this fall, Kowal confirmed Tuesday morning.

Kowal declined to comment on the reason for his departure. He has asked NIU to release him from his scholarship, but has been denied it so far. Kowal will have an appeal hearing at 3 p.m. tomorrow on NIU's campus with an NIU appeals committee to determine whether or not he will be granted his release.

"I will not be attending NIU in the fall. I have decided not to return there," Kowal said. "I've decided not to say anything until after the appeal hearing tomorrow up on campus."

Updated: 4:02 p.m: "Sean's decision not to return for his senior season was definitely unexpected and we're disappointed he won't be back," NIU coach Ricardo Patton said in a statement. "Sean has been with my staff and me for four years, so it's tough to see him step away without finishing his playing career with us. We've always emphasized academics and graduation in our program, so it's good to see Sean will leave Northern Illinois with a degree in hand."

We'll have more on this in Wednesday's Daily Chronicle and on huskiewire.com.