COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State linebacker Chris Kirk, who was found to be academically ineligible, has been reinstated after the Big Ten upheld his appeal.
Kirk, a junior inside linebacker from Westerville, Ohio, said he was shocked to find out, just days before the Buckeyes’ season opener against West Virginia, that he was ineligible because he had switched majors.
Kirk’s family blamed Ohio State’s academic counselors because they said he was told he could change majors and was taking only the courses he was told to take. But a Big Ten compliance committee ruled that he had not met academic requirements to remain eligible.
At the time, Ohio State athletics director Andy Geiger said Kirk’s ineligibility was the player’s fault.
Yet the Big Ten office, with no new information and no changes in Kirk’s academic transcript, ruled in Kirk’s favor earlier this week. He has been practicing with the Buckeyes for the past two weeks and is expected to make the trip with the team for Saturday’s game at Illinois.
“They approved his appeal based on an issue of fairness,” Geiger said Thursday.