Staiger Appeal Turned Down by NCAA Committee

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State freshman men's basketball player Lucca Staiger will miss the entire 2007-08 season and lose a year of eligibility the NCAA confirmed late Friday.

“The news that Lucca (Staiger) will miss this season as well as lose a year of collegiate competition is very disappointing,” Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. “We felt strongly about his case and that's why we used every available avenue to appeal, but the committee's decision to uphold the NCAA staff's ruling ends the process.”

The NCAA's Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee ? a group of college and conference administrators ? heard an appeal of the NCAA staff's Nov. 28 decision to keep Staiger off the court for a full year on Tuesday morning.

“We felt that we presented compelling, mitigating factors which we hoped would result in Lucca's clearance to play,” Pollard said. “The committee felt otherwise and chose to agree with the NCAA staff's decision.”

The appeal to the committee was the last action available for Stagier to gain the approval to play in games this season. Pollard, Coach Greg McDermott and Staiger presented Iowa State's appeal on the conference call with the committee on Dec. 18.

Staiger's participation on a German professional team ? in which two teammates, but not Staiger, received stipends above actual and necessary expenses prior to his enrollment at ISU ? made him ineligible to play for the Cyclones. Staiger had already missed 12 Iowa State's games prior to today's announcement.

“What became obvious during this process is that Lucca and his family took extraordinary precautions to maintain his college eligibility because it has been a life-long dream of his to study and play college basketball in the United States,” Pollard said. “Unfortunately, the committee did not agree with us that the precautions Lucca and his family took warranted any change to the NCAA's prescribed penalties.”

Staiger recently announced his intention to remain at Iowa State as a student and athlete independent of the committee's decision. He will retain three years of eligibility at Iowa State, beginning with the 2008-09 season.

“The support of Cyclone fans and his coaching staff were big factors in Lucca's decision to stay at Iowa State University,” Pollard said. “I think the Cyclone fans helped Lucca realize that Iowa State is a great place for him.”