According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Badgers’ freshman forward Nic Kerdiles will miss the 2012-13 season after the NCAA found he “violated its code of amateurism.”
An appeal was filed and on Friday, it was announced that Kerdiles will only miss UW’s first 10 games and will be eligible to play in the Nov. 30 game at Denver.
Apparently, Kerdiles tweeted a reference to his agent after being drafted by Anaheim in the second round of June’s NHL draft. His Twitter account has since been deleted.
That may not be the only alleged violation, however.
The SB Nation Blog Bucky’s 5th Quarter reported that Kerdiles was pictured along with then-draft-eligible players Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov holding a supplement in a tweet posted to the Twitter account of agent Ian Pulver.
The tweet with the photo, taken during the NHL scouting combine in Toronto, said:
@BioSteelSports at NHL Combine @NicKerdiles @AGally94 and the Yak. @Igor_Larionov @dtolensky pic.twitter.com/J8RO0urL
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/pulversports/status/207576418014609408″]
The photo and caption could be considered a product endorsement, which is against NCAA amateurism rules.
On Oct. 19, the NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement reduced the penalty to 30 percent from the NCAA staff’s original decision, meaning that Kerdiles will miss Wisconsin’s first 10 regular-season games, which includes the two games against Northern Michigan last weekend.
“While we recognize the significant nature of a reduction in penalty from a full season withholding to 30 percent, we are dismayed that any penalty whatsoever was imposed on Nic Kerdiles in this matter,” said UW senior associate athletic director for regulatory affairs Walter Dickey in a statement. “We remain confident that the facts demonstrate Nic had no culpability. The facts serve as evidence that he has the kind of character we believed he had when he was first recruited. Throughout this ordeal, Nic has demonstrated nothing but poise and integrity consistent with the outstanding student-athlete we know he is.
“Nic is currently exploring his options which we have encouraged him to do. Our hope is that he remains a Badger.”
