The future of Oklahoma senior linebacker Mike Balogun is up in the air as the NCAA looks into his participation in a semi-pro football league prior to joining the Sooners.The NCAA, acting on information it received from Oklahoma, declared Balogun ineligible as of Friday while it looks into the possibility Balogun could have played in a semi-pro league after he turned 21 on Sept. 28, 2004. NCAA rules say that a player loses a year of eligibility for each season he plays a non-amateur sport past the age of 21.
Balogun, 25, is a second-year junior college transfer from out of Lackawanna (Pa.) Community College, where he played two years. Balogun, who apparently did not play his final two years of high school, played for the Maryland Marauders, D.C. Explosion and Prince George Jets of the North American Football League, a semi-pro league, prior to enrolling at Lackawanna.
What is left up in the air is when Balogun graduated from high school and what years he played semi-pro football. The Sooners media guides make no mention Balogun's semi-pro career, or his high school days, only offering that he worked in construction following high school before enrolling at Lackawanna.
According to a feature story written by the New York Times last December, Balogun worked his construction job during the day and played semi-pro ball near his Upper Marlboro, Md. home in the evenings while he and his girlfriends raised their young daughter. Players and coaches were paid about $2,000 per season.
Oklahoma was well aware of Balogun's participation with the semi-pro league and the NCAA interviewed him and certified him on May 28, 2008. But Oklahoma says some new information came to light following the 2008 season that was cause for concern, so the school notified the NCAA.
Balogun, who is listed as the No.2 middle linebacker behind Ryan Reynolds, can continue to practice with the Sooners until Aug. 19 while the investigation goes on, but he will be sidelined after that if the issue isn't resolved.
"I don't know how we could have done more than we have in this matter, and we've had a good working relationship with the NCAA on Mike's case all along," coach Bob Stoops said in a released statement Friday. "We're still hopeful that Mike will be eligible for this season, but we'll have to see what happens over the coming days."
After a stellar sophomore season at Lackawanna, many predicted Balogun would come in last season and immediately start for a program that was unexpectedly thin at linebacker. But Balogun struggled to pick up the system and was relegated to primarily a backup role where he recorded 13 tackles in 10 games he played in last season.
