Minnesota college running star Mohammed Bati says he was banned for accepting $6K donation to pay for tuition
By Nicholas McEntyre
Published Dec. 27, 2025, 5:26 a.m. ET
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The NCAA ruled Augsburg University senior Mohammed Bati — a two-time national runner-up — ineligible for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, the decorated runner said, according to Marathon Handbook on Friday.
The 26-year-old, who is majoring in nursing, revealed he was “struggling a lot with money” last semester at the private Minneapolis school, which is part of the NCAA’s Division III.
“The community around me came together to support me,” Bati wrote on the training platform Strava on Dec. 24. “People helped me with around $6,000 so I could pay for that semester. I’m still grateful for that it was love, it was support, not anything big or business or something bad. Just people helping someone who needed it.”
Division III schools are prohibited from awarding scholarships for athletics. Students can only receive money from merit-based financial aid or FAFSA.
Student-athletes in Division III are not allowed to accept outside financial assistance that pays for tuition unless it fits into the structure of financial aid or NIL guidelines.
“I don’t think some NCAA rules are fair to everyone,” Bati wrote in the post titled “Night Run.”
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Sorry but the NCAA “rules” are just dumb in this case.
I don’t understand the “rules” and who cares down at Division III.
Argh!
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