More on Mauk

Quarterback Ben Mauk said he was disappointed in the NCAA’s decision to deny him a sixth year of eligibility but remains optimistic that he will be running the UC offense next fall.

“I’m excited,” he said, “becaus now we start a new process and I actually get to talk to the NCAA instead of writing letters. I get to actually let them hear my voice and let them know who I am and why I deserve a sixth year. I think that will be a big help. Now I get to let them know every little detail. I think that will be a big help when you hear someone’s voice and actually hear the story come from them.”

Mauk, who was denied a sixth year because the NCAA said there wasn’t enough documentation of the injury that he says forced him to be pulled from competition during his redshirt freshman year at Wake Forest in 2003, is in the process of appealing that decision to a six-member Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee.

He will have 10 minutes to address the committee by phone. Four of those members will have to rule in his favor in order to get the decision overturned. No date has been set for that hearing.

Mauk arrived at Wake Forest shortly after having surgery to remove a screw in his toe. The screw had been placed there during surgery he underwent after breaking his leg during his freshman year in high school.

As a result of that surgery, he says, he was unable to play to his maximum ability at Wake and therefore should be granted another year.

But the documentation for any treatment he received for that injury at Wake or for any decisions that removed him from competition does not exist, according to UC compliance director Maggie McKinley.

“Wake didn’t have anything in their records about followup care for that foot,” McKinley said. “They didn’t have anything that said Ben couldn’t participate because of that foot.
“They said we have these notes but they weren’t anything like what we thought they would be. The documentation that supported it pretty much ended on June 12, which is when he reported for summer school.”

Mauk said today that he was on Wake’s traveling squad until about the midway point of his freshman year, but was removed before the trip to Florida State because of his injury.
But he said he doesn’t blame Wake Forest for not having the documentation.

“I don’t blame Wake Forest at all,” he said. “That’s one of the things that kind of gets you between a rock and a hard place. I’m not somebody that complains. I always try to bounce back as fast as I can from any blow that life deals me. Looking back, if I would have complained and been a crybaby this wouldn’t be such a problem. But because I was trying to be tough and tried to push through an injury and overcome it, I almost feel like I’m being penalized for that.”