After months of waiting and wondering about his future, Pitt basketball player Mike Cook has some clarity. He won't be returning to the Panthers this season.

The NCAA denied Cook a medical redshirt and a sixth season of eligibility. He had petitioned the NCAA after the ACL in his left knee was torn in a Dec. 20 game against Duke.

The Big East and NCAA denied Cook on two earlier occasions this summer, and his third and final appeal was rejected yesterday.

According to NCAA rules, a player is not eligible for a medical redshirt if he plays in 30 percent or more of his team's games. Cook played in 11 of 37 games, which seemingly would qualify him at 29.7 percent. However, the NCAA does not count NCAA tournament games and only counts one conference tournament game. So in the NCAA's eyes, Cook played in 11 of 32 games, or 34.3 percent.

The Big East Conference first rejected Cook's appeal for a sixth season. Pitt then appealed to the NCAA. After the NCAA rejected Cook a second time, Pitt's final appeal was heard by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement committee comprised of five faculty members at NCAA schools.

Pitt's hope for an appeal hinged on NCAA-sanctioned exempt in-season tournaments. Pitt maintained that its participation in the Hispanic College Fund Classic in November put Cook's eligibility in a different light.

Four-game exempt tournaments count as only two games under NCAA rules. However, all four games Pitt played in the tournament counted against Cook in the appeals process.

"Their quote to me was your case has some merit, but we can't change the rule," Dixon said. "That's disappointing to me because they really didn't look at our side of the argument. They just said they couldn't change a rule."

Dixon said Pitt will propose a rule change to the NCAA rules committee in hopes that future student-athletes won't be denied under such circumstances.

"But this can't help Mike." Dixon said. "We've exhausted every option we had. They told us there was nothing else we could do."

Cook could not be reached for comment yesterday, but he said last month that he was ready to move on if the NCAA did not grant his request for another season.

Athletic director Steve Pederson has offered Cook the opportunity to attend graduate school at Pitt or work in the athletic department while he rehabilitates his knee under the supervision of the university's doctors and trainers.