AAC Football

The University of Central Florida has determined that kicker Donald De La Haye is no longer eligible to play after he continued to monetize his YouTube videos, per Joe Kepner of WFTV Sports: 

Stacey Osburn of the NCAA clarified it was the school that ultimately deemed De La Haye ineligible rather than the NCAA.

Iliana Limon Romero and Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel provided more context on De La Haye's YouTube channel:

"Most of De La Haye’s 59 videos document his daily life as a UCF athlete. The kicker’s channel has jumped from 63,275 subscribers in June to 89,954 shortly after UCF announced he was ineligible Monday. De La Haye said in one of his videos he planned to send money earned via the YouTube ads home to his struggling family. He said it was a dream come true to both play college football and make advertising revenue off his passion for creating videos."

De La Haye responded to the news on Twitter:

According to Romero and Murschel's report, the UCF compliance office warned De La Haye in June that receiving advertising revenue on his channel could cost him his eligibility. But De La Haye remained defiant.

"I’m not stopping for anybody," he said in a video a week after that meeting.

He added, "I’m going to upload regularly to this channel. I'm not stopping that. I’m not demonetizing. I refuse to. So it’s out of my hands now."

He also questioned why the NCAA would prevent him from making money off his own YouTube channel, per B/R's David Gardner:

"It was surprising. I feel like I'm owned by the NCAA. They can use my name and my likeness to make money off of me, but I can't. I'm not out here selling autographs. I'm not boasting that I'm a UCF player. Any other YouTuber with the same amount of subscribers would make the same amount of money as me. It's a senseless rule, in my opinion, especially in the age of social media."

"If anything, I feel like I should be rewarded for what I'm doing, not punished," he added. "I don't want to toot my own horn, but I feel like I have a talent. I try to inspire people and to bring smiles to their faces."

De La Haye raised the key point in a long-held debate regarding the NCAA's stance on amateurism: Should the NCAA and its college institutions be allowed to profit off college athletes if the athletes themselves can't do the same?

The argument on one side is that allowing athletes to receive scholarships and an education is a de facto payment, and the distinction of student-athletes and amateurism is an important facet of college sports.

The argument on the other side is that, given the time commitment from college athletes and the revenue many sports create for the universities and NCAA, those athletes are entitled to a proportionate share of the profits.

De La Haye's case is an interesting one in a debate that will likely rage for years to come, especially in the social media age.

UPDATE (8/2/17): The University of Central Florida has determined that kicker Donald De La Haye is no longer eligible to play after he continued to monetize his YouTube videos, per Joe Kepner of WFTV Sports.

The message, De La Haye says, was one of several signs that prompted him to post a follow-up Sunday announcing his decision to continue making videos. Because he won't demonetize his channel, he will potentially be in violation of NCAA rules that disallow student-athletes from profiting from their names or athletic reputations.

"I'm just at peace right now," De La Haye says. "I've been struggling in making my decision, but I know where I stand now personally. I don't know where I stand with the NCAA, but that's okay. I'm happy with where I am."

De La Haye says he hasn't spoken with anyone in UCF's compliance office about his decision, but he will continue producing videos two to three times a week until he is instructed to stop. And if he is eventually given an ultimatum, De La Haye says he would leave college football and train for the NFL while continuing to make YouTube videos. He hasn't considered taking any kind of legal action against the NCAA, but he says he won't be afraid to speak out publicly against the organization.

"If the NCAA goes against what I believe in, I will tell people how I feel," he says. "I'm not going to do it just to do it; I'll wait for my verdict. But if I need to state my opinion, I won't be afraid."

For most of his life, Donald De La Haye has found the most joy in two places: on the field and in front of a camera. And for most of his life, those two passions have lived in perfect harmony. But now he may be forced to make a choice.

On Friday, in a meeting with a UCF compliance officer, De La Haye learned that continuing to earn money off his popular YouTube channel could cost him his athletic scholarship and his place as a kicker on UCF's football team. According to NCAA bylaw 12.4.4, a student-athlete "may establish his or her own business, provided the student-athlete's name, photograph, appearance or athletics reputation are not used to promote the business." And more than half of De La Haye's "Deestroying" channel videos touch on the topics of kicking or campus life.

"It was surprising," De La Haye says. "I feel like I'm owned by the NCAA. They can use my name and my likeness to make money off of me, but I can't. I'm not out here selling autographs. I'm not boasting that I'm a UCF player. Any other YouTuber with the same amount of subscribers would make the same amount of money as me. It's a senseless rule, in my opinion, especially in the age of social media."

A native of Costa Rica, De La Haye traces his passion for creating videos to his father, with whom he shares a name. De La Haye Sr. was always armed with a video camera at every major family function, including all of his son's soccer games. And when the younger De La Haye turned 13, he decided to start making videos himself, at first recording and editing Call of Duty gameplay. In middle school, he and his best friends, Troy and Malik, would make sketches about life at school and in their neighborhoods.

When he arrived at UCF in 2015, he decided he wanted to create a library of his videos and watched as his number of subscribers—now more than 55,000—skyrocketed. When he realized he could earn extra income for his family back home through his channel, he started applying lessons he'd learn at school as a marketing major. Even after his marketing classes end each semester, he keeps his favorite textbooks to reference regularly.

"If anything, I feel like I should be rewarded for what I'm doing, not punished," he says. "I don't want to toot my own horn, but I feel like I have a talent. I try to inspire people and to bring smiles to their faces."

Although De La Haye declined to say how much money he had earned from his channel, a similarly sized YouTube channel could earn between a few hundred and a couple thousand dollars a month. De La Haye, who likely relies on per-stream royalties and appears to have no sponsors, may earn something in the neighborhood of $1 per 1,000 views. "I'm a child who cares about his family," he says. "I want to help out. I want to make things easier for them. This is how I have been able to do that. That's the most difficult part."

On Saturday, De La Haye posted an emotional plea on his channel after receiving the news. Since then, he says, he has barely slept and has had trouble focusing on his schoolwork as he wrestles with deciding what to do next.

On one hand, he feels he owes it to his family to complete his college degree. On the other hand, he believes he has more long-term potential to earn money from making videos than from playing football. (Last fall he appeared in every game, but solely as a kickoff specialist.) For now, he is hoping the school will help him apply for a waiver and that the NCAA will allow him to keep his scholarship—and his earnings. An NCAA spokeswoman told B/R on Tuesday that the organization hadn't received a waiver yet and wasn't currently reviewing the situation.

The NCAA is facing increasing legal and public perception pressure to allow student-athletes to earn income, particularly from their names and likenesses—a restriction that isn't applied to any other college students, even those on scholarships. On Friday, former UNLV basketball players Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez told Slam their decision to forgo their final year of eligibility to focus on their music careers was "90-95 percent" due to NCAA rules.

"Times are changing," De La Haye says. "If any other college kid wants to be an entrepreneur and take the things he's taught in the classroom and use them, they'd be praised for it. Why can't we? If all of us student-athletes come together and try for change, it will at least get looked at. It seems like the NCAA wins a lot of battles, but we have to at least try to create change."

De La Haye says he has received nothing but support from UCF staffers, coaches and teammates, but the school must tread carefully given that it only recently was taken off probation from a series of NCAA football and basketball sanctions issued in 2012.

"I love UCF," he says. "I'm blessed, and I know that. I just feel like it's unfair that I'm being treated differently as a student-athlete. For me to have to choose between two things that I love, for this to be happening to me—it's heartbreaking," he says. "I don't want anyone else to have to suffer through something like this."

Central Florida kicker Donald De La Haye posted a video on his YouTube channel Saturday saying the school said he has to choose between playing for the team and potentially making money off of his channel.

"I feel like they're making me pick between my passion in what I love to do, make videos and entertain, be creative, and my other passion, which is playing football," De La Haye said in a video titled "Quit College Sports or Quit YouTube."

Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com reported a different version of events, however, that said UCF did not give him an ultimatum. 

"UCF Athletics is committed to rules compliance. Our compliance staff strives to make sure our student-athletes are informed about all pertinent NCAA bylaws," UCF said in a statement. 

"Student-athletes attend regular educational meetings regarding NCAA eligibility. One of our goals is to help our student-athletes learn about the bylaws that govern intercollegiate athletics, in an effort to help them maintain their eligibility."

De La Haye has posted 41 videos, which have garnered more than two million total views and 54,000 subscribers. His subscriber number makes him eligible under YouTube's policy to make money off of his content, but that may put his eligibility at risk.

“It’s really tough. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not making money illegally," De La Haye said (h/t Nick Martin of Deadspin). "I’m not selling dope. I’m not kidnapping people or robbing people. I’m not selling my autographs for money. I’m not sitting here getting Nike checks and Nike deals and all these sponsorships. I’m literally filming stuff. I’m sitting here, editing things on my computer for hours and developing my own brand. I put in the work, and I’m not allowed to get any benefits from the work.

“Basically, I’m not allowed to make any money off my YouTube videos. I’m working hard, basically like a job, filming, editing, coming up with ideas, doing things of that sort. And I’m not allowed to make any money. If I do, bad things happen.”

De La Haye appeared in all 13 games last season for UCF, primarily being used on kickoffs. He has two years of eligibility remaining. 

East Carolina head football coach Scottie Montgomery delivered an early Mother's Day gift to a recruit's mom.

Tia Chapman's son, defensive end Kiante Anderson, earned a full scholarship to play for the Pirates. Montgomery surprised Chapman at South Greenville Elementary School with news of the offer before informing Anderson.

"He loves her," Montgomery said to the camera before entering the building. "He speaks so highly of her, talks about her sacrifices."

He entered with a camera crew, claiming to honor local mothers. Then she opened an envelope revealing the news, prompting her to cry and hug the coach.

After receiving the "best Mother's Day gift ever," Chapman called Anderson to tell him about the scholarship. It's a tough present for all other sons and daughters to follow this weekend.

[ECU Athletics]

About a week after judge Margaret Taylor criticized the USF football program and head coach Charlie Strong, the two had a positive meeting at the courthouse.

"It was a very positive conversation," said chief judge Ron Ficarrotta, who arranged the meeting, per Sue Carlton of the Tampa Bay Times.

"I think Coach Strong was able to educate Judge Taylor on some of the issues," he added. "It went very well."

Taylor oversaw a court appearance of USF defensive lineman LaDarrius Jackson, who faces charges of sexual battery.

After admitting she was "ashamed" to call herself an alum of South Florida, she sent a message to the new head coach of the football team, via WTSP-TV (h/t USA Today):

"And, I have a message for your coach, as well. coach Strong, if you are listening, in the last couple of months there have been two arrests of your players for very violent felonies. This court, and I'm sure I'm not alone, questions whether you have control over your players. It's fairly clear you do not have control of them off the field, and I guess only time will tell whether you have control over them on the field."

Hassan Childs was dismissed from the team after receiving charges of aggravated assault.

Strong was hired to take over the Bulls football team in December after spending the previous three years with Texas.

USF dismissed defensive end LaDarrius Jackson from its program after he was arrested Wednesday on his second sexual assault charge in less than a month. 

Jackson, 22, turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment, per Anastasia Dawson of the Tampa Bay Times. The rising junior was first arrested on the same charges May 1 by USF police.

The team had suspended him indefinitely following the first arrest. 

According to the police report, the most recent charge stems from a March 27 incident in the bathroom of a woman's home. The woman said she attempted to leave a bathroom where Jackson was showering but was held off by the defensive end before he grabbed her and committed sexual battery. She said Jackson then forced the woman to take an emergency contraceptive.

In May, a woman told police Jackson raped her at a USF dorm after multiple attempts throughout the day. The woman says Jackson had attempted to force her into oral sex earlier in the day before later grabbing and raping her. 

South Florida Bulls defensive end LaDarrius Jackson turned himself in to authorities Wednesday on charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment, the Tampa Bay Times' Anastasia Dawson reported. He has been dismissed from the team, per Dawson.

It's the second time Jackson has been arrested for the same charges this month. The Tampa Bay Times' Joey Knight reported May 2 that South Florida police arrested the junior after an alleged assault at a campus housing facility May 1. 

The more recent charges result from an alleged assault off campus March 27.

According to Dawson, Jackson was visiting the woman at her home. The woman told officers from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that Jackson first insisted on showering with her before removing her clothing and assaulting her despite numerous refusals.

She said Jackson then drove her to a pharmacy to buy emergency contraceptive before Jackson returned to his dorm.

Following Jackson's first arrest, South Florida head coach Charlie Strong announced he was removed from team activities without giving a timeline.

"We are aware of the charges filed against [Jackson]," Strong said, per Knight. "While we find the allegations troubling, we will continue to gather information and support the judicial process before providing further comment."

Jackson spent a season with the Bulls after transferring from Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi. He appeared in seven games for USF in 2016, recording three total tackles.

Judge Margaret Taylor has recused herself from the felony sexual battery and false imprisonment case involving South Florida defensive end LaDarrius Jackson. 

Per ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Taylor recused herself from the case one day after telling Jackson in court she "was never ashamed of being an alum (of South Florida) until now" and criticized USF head coach Charlie Strong for an apparent lack of control at the program:

"Coach Strong, if you are listening, in the last couple of months there have been two arrests of your players for very violent felonies. This court, and I'm sure I'm not alone, questions whether you have control over your players. It's fairly clear you do not have control of them off the field, and I guess only time will tell whether you have control over them on the field."

Per Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, Jackson was arrested on Monday night by USF police as he was about to take a flight home. 

Per Knight, the USF police report stated Jackson "forced a woman to perform sex Monday afternoon despite her verbal and physical efforts to resist him" and he "forced her into her room after she placed her hands on a wall in an attempt to stop him...then pushed her onto the bed and straddled her."

Strong issued a statement regarding Jackson's arrest, per A.J. Perez of USA Today: "We are aware of the charges filed against LaDarrius Jackson. While we find the allegations troubling, we will continue to gather information and support the judicial process before providing further comment."

Jackson appeared in seven games for South Florida as a freshman in 2016. Strong was hired as South Florida's new head football coach in December after spending the previous three years at the University of Texas. 

Former Texas A&M defensive lineman Reggie Chevis will transfer to Houston, per Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN.

Chevis has one year of eligibility remaining and after graduating in May, he will be eligible to play immediately with his new team. He appeared in 12 games this past season with the Aggies after playing just three the previous two seasons.

The former linebacker excelled in his conversion to the defensive line, finishing with 25 tackles, two for a loss, and one sack.

He will now try to continue improving for Houston, which ranked 30th in the country in opponent points per game and already has a strong defensive line led by Ed Oliver.

The squad had a bit of a disappointing finish to the year after beating Oklahoma and jumping out to a 5-0 start. Unfortunately, it ended the year with a 9-4 record with head coach Tom Herman leaving for Texas.

New coach Major Applewhite will now need to keep the team competitive, and adding players of Chevis' ability will go a long way.

University of South Florida defensive end LaDarrius Jackson was arrested Monday night on charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment.

According to Tamara Lush of the Associated Press, a woman alleged that Jackson sexually assaulted her Monday afternoon in USF student housing.

Per the Tampa Bay Times, the woman alleged that Jackson forced her into her room and to have sex with him despite her verbal and physical objections. 

South Florida head coach Charlie Strong released the following statement regarding Jackson, according to A.J. Perez of USA Today: "We are aware of the charges filed against LaDarrius Jackson. While we find the allegations troubling, we will continue to gather information and support the judicial process before providing further comment."

Strong released an additional statement on Wednesday, per Matt Fortuna of Yahoo! Sports:

A judge questioned Strong's ability to control his players following the arrest, per Sports Illustrated:

Jackson appeared in two games and recorded three tackles for the Bulls as a sophomore last season.

Per ESPN.com, Jackson was still being held in a Tampa jail as of Tuesday morning without bond.