NIU officials were unable to say Monday if Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones has transferred to NIU.

Sports Information Director Donna Turner said the department had no comment at the present time. Athletic Director Jim Phillips was also unavailable to speak, as he was in closed meetings all day.

However, Brian Hardin, Director of Football Media Relations for Notre Dame, said the beat writers who cover the Irish are considering Jones as a transfer.

Hardin also said Irish head coach Charlie Weis has tried to contact Jones, but the former quarterback will not return his voice messages.

“He’s left messages on his phone,” Hardin said. “And as of last night there has been no contact.”

NIU head coach Joe Novak has had the same interaction with the quarterback as Weis — none. In his MAC teleconference Monday morning, Novak said that there has not been contact between him and the transfer.

In order to be eligible to play next season for NIU, Jones must have transferred to NIU by Tuesday, Sept. 11 according to NCAA bylaw 14.5.1.1b. However, the South Bend Tribune has reported that Jones was practicing with the Irish as late as Thursday, Sept. 14.

“I’ve been told he’s been on campus. I didn’t know that till the end of last week when people started telling me about it,” Novak said. “We’re not allowed to have any contact.”

“The situation hasn’t changed. I’ll be honest, I still not have received word that the youngster is a full-time student here yet. So they’ve told me I can’t say anything till that gets cleared,” Novak said. “I hope something gets cleared here in the next 24 hours to be honest with you, but other than that I’m not in the position to say anything.”

While Novak may not know if Jones is a full time student or not, it appears NIU does.

Jones has a Z-ID number, which, according to NIU’s Web site, “[students] are assigned an AccountID when you first register at NIU.”

Although Novak was not in the position to say anything about Jones, he did say the situation was unusual when asked by a reporter. Novak also said the situation was not a distraction during NIU’s loss to Eastern Michigan this past weekend.

However, the 12-year coach did say he would like to put closure onto the situation as soon as he can.

“I want to get the thing cleared up one way or the other. I want to know,” Novak said. “I want to be able to talk to the team if that’s the case and this is going to happen, and then I want it forgotten.”