LITTLE ROCK — The NCAA verdict is in for Michael Dyer.
The junior running back and Auburn transfer will sit out this season for Arkansas State after a waiver request for the Little Rock native was denied, the school announced Thursday in a news release.
ASU Coach Gus Malzahn did not return calls seeking comment on the NCAA’s ruling, but the former Auburn offensive coordinator had said the outcome was expected.
Eliah Drinkwitz, ASU’s running backs coach, also said Thursday he wasn’t surprised by the decision.
“The NCAA is not in the business of giving out transfers,” Drinkwitz said. “So I don’t think it was a huge shock, but we were hopeful they would find Mike’s case in his favor.”
Transfers from one Football Bowl Subdivision program to another must sit out a season before gaining eligibility, but the NCAA can award a waiver if extenuating circumstances surround the player’s decision, such as an illness in the family.
ASU officials did not release their reason for seeking a waiver in Dyer’s case.
Dyer, 5-9, 210 pounds, rushed for 2,335 yards and 15 touchdowns in two seasons at Auburn. He transferred to ASU in early January after being suspended for Auburn’s game against Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
He took part in all of the Red Wolves’ spring practices, splitting carries with redshirt sophomore Frankie Jackson - who will enter the year atop the ASU depth chart - on the first-string offense. During the Red Wolves’ spring game, Dyer rushed for 85 yards on 15 carries and caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Aplin during the Red team’s 28-14 victory.
ASU’s rotation of ball carriers still figures to feature Jackson, who rushed for 355 yards and 6 touchdowns on 88 carries last season, along with junior Sirgregory Thornton.
The Red Wolves also have added another running back with the arrival of David Oku, who left Tennessee in January 2011 and sat out 16 months before transferring to Jonesboro. Rivals rated Oku as the nation’s No. 1 all-purpose running back in the 2009 recruiting class,
“We know that we’ve got good football players on this team,” Drinkwitiz said. “We’ve got a lot of guys back there capable of handling the football.”
Oku is eligible to play immediately after sitting out last season, but there are questions regarding how he’ll fare after such an extended layoff.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen him do anything in conditioning. That’ll be something we’ll have to get feedback from our strength and conditioning coaches,” Drinkwitz said. “But he says he’s in shape, and it’s football. You put a ball in their hands and you knock the dust off.”
Dyer also testified as a prosecution witness in the trial of three Auburn players charged in an armed robbery during March 2011. Dyer testified in Lee County Circuit Court that a .45-caliber handgun belonging to him was taken by one of the players, who also invited him to take part in the robbery.
Andre Dyer, his uncle, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in early January that part of the reason Dyer, a Little Rock Christian graduate, returned to his home state was to be closer to family and leave behind past incidents at Auburn.
Sports, Pages 21 on 07/06/2012