Top-rated
Baylor recruit
Devin Duvernay is free to sign elsewhere after the university confirmed Thursday that it failed to submit his NLI paperwork to the Big 12 offices.
Duvernay, ESPN's No. 3-rated wide receiver in the 2016 class, had been seeking a release from his national letter of intent after the sexual assault scandal that has rocked Baylor and cost coach Art Briles his job.
A Baylor spokesman confirmed to ESPN on Thursday that its compliance department has determined that Duvernay does not have a valid NLI and said that information has been relayed to Duvernay's family and the Baylor coaching staff. Susan Peal, the director of the national letter of intent program told ESPN that she could not comment on the specific case.
According to NLI provisions, Baylor had to file Duvernay's letter to the conference office within 14 days of the final signature, otherwise the NLI would be deemed invalid.
Henry Duvernay discovered the error while attempting to submit his son's release request. He was unable to access Devin's account with the NLI database and reached out to Baylor and the NLI office for their help.
Henry Duvernay told ESPN that Peal looked into the situation and determined Baylor did not send in Devin's signed NLI.
"She said Devin is not in the system," he said. "She had her people verify that, and he is free to go."
