Former Maryland DB Qwuantrezz Knight denied immediate eligibility at Kent State

Former Maryland and current Kent State defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight, who left the Terps after playing four games in 2018, will appeal for immediate eligibility after being denied by the NCAA, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. Knight was denied on June 4, and has 30 days to appeal.

The Quincy, Florida, native sought an immediate eligibility waiver citing “depression symptoms due to the environment he experienced on the University of Maryland’s football team,” according to a letter Stephanie Rosinski, Kent State Associate Director for Compliance, wrote to the NCAA, which Knight provided to ESPN. The NCAA denied Knight’s waiver because he “did not provide objective documentation that supports the assertion that [he] was the victim of egregious behavior” at Maryland.

Knight also provided the personal statement he wrote to the NCAA to ESPN, which detailed how he felt during his time at Maryland.

“I did not ask to be put in the mentally and physically threatening situation that I was put in at Maryland,” Knight writes in the statement, which he provided to ESPN. “Due to circumstances out of my control, I literally feared for my life and the lives of my teammates every day! I transferred because I could no longer be part of that program. It was harmful to my mental health.”

In his statement, Knight also cited two of the most widely reported incidents from ESPN’s initial report inside the “toxic culture” of the program and the Board of Regents’ investigative committee’s own report into the issue: former strength and conditioning coach Rick Court throwing a weight at a player and making another player eat junk food because he was overweight. Although Knight didn’t talk to the committee, he included the report in his request.

“They [the NCAA] know what happened there, but they need more evidence as to things that happened to me,” Knight told ESPN. “It wasn’t like we were recording it while it was happening. Everything that was going on there, from the coaching culture and everything, you don’t really need evidence from that. Everything that you guys read, that was true. What more evidence do you need?

”I’m a kid that was actually there and went through it and witnessed everything. ... I was definitely affected by it.”

Some of Knight’s statement also backs up the committee’s findings that although it was not a toxic culture, it was one where players feared speaking out and issues were allowed to fester.

“The players knew what was going on there was wrong, but we were too afraid to speak out because we were scared of what the coaches would do to us,” Knight writes, noting a trend also found by one investigation into the program. “That’s why so many of the incidents that happened there didn’t come out until after Jordan’s death.”

Maryland supports Knight’s waiver for immediate eligiblity, but “fundamentally disagrees with many of the assertions” made by him and Kent State, according to Kristi Giddings, associate athletic director of compliance.

In other news

It’s Running Backs week at Testudo Times. Lila started things off by giving a glimpse of what should be a loaded group.

Mike Locksley’s has been on a roll with recruiting recently, and picked up his second running back commit in as many days in four-star recruit Peny Boone.

Three-star Florida defensive tackle Jerzhan “Johnny” Newton has Maryland in his top 5.

The newest Terps also moved to campus yesterday.

Daishen Nix is currently the top point guard in the Class of 2020, and his only official visit so far has been to Maryland.

Women’s lacrosse goalie Megan Taylor added another award to her already large haul, winning the Honda Sport Award for Lacrosse.

Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club, the top team in the new Premier Lacrosse League, is filled with former Maryland players.

Yesterday was National Mascot Day, so of course Testudo got a shoutout.