Arizona Football: Notre Dame transfer DaVonte' Neal denied eligibility by NCAA

At Monday's weekly press conference, head coach Rich Rodriguez announced that DaVonte' Neal's hardship waiver was denied by the NCAA, and it "doesn't look good" that Neal will play for the Wildcats in 2013.

"Right now, he's been denied eligibilty," said Rodriguez.  "It's more than a little disappointing."

"I think there's another appeal that we're going to try to make, but it doesn't look good.  It's extremely disappointing, that's all I'm going to say right now."

But Rodriguez went back to it a little bit later even though he said he was done talking about it.

"DaVonte's been great.  I've been really proud of his demeanor.  He's taking every rep in practice like it's the Super Bowl.  Been on the scout team, doing a great job, just has a super attitude."

Is there a point in the year when Arizona gives up?  No.

"He's a good enough athlete with three games to go in the season he can help you."

And then some pretty candid comments on the NCAA as a whole:

"Now on this last ruling that came down, I'm not overly optimistic because I don't understand some of the inconsistencies in the NCAA."

"The only thing I'll say about the NCAA is that they're consistent about being inconsistent."

"We're all frustrated and disappointed.  He has three years of eligibility starting next fall."