Next to losing and suffering injuries, the worst feeling that a collegiate athlete can experience is being ineligible due to academics.

NIU freshman guard Mark Layton is going to miss the rest of the 1990-91 campaign due to his inability to meet NIU’s academic requirements.

Layton, who averaged 4.1 points per game and played a stellar defense for the first 12 games of the season, will leave a large void for NIU Head Coach Jim Molinari to fill.

“It’s obviously an unfortunate situation for Mark to be in,” Molinari said. “Mark’s a great kid, and I think we will all learn a lesson from all of this. Sometimes lessons learned the hard way are better.

“It’s a big loss, but we will play with Stacy Arrington, (Mike) Hidden, (David) Mitchell, and Mike Lipnisky at point guard to make up for Mark’s loss,” Molinari said.

“Mark will continue to practice with the team, but he just can’t play until next season.”

Molinari was also quick to mention that more communication will be needed for his entire team and staff to try to avoid this situation in the future.

“The greatest thing that our players will get out of NIU is a degree,” Molinari said. “This is a tribute to the quality of our faculty and of the academic reputation at NIU.”