Freshman guard Lucca Staiger from Baulstein, Germany was denied his second appeal by an NCAA committee on Friday and ruled ineligible for the entire 2007-08 season.

“The news that Lucca will miss the season as well as lose a year of collegiate competition is very disappointing,” Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard said in a statement issued by the school. “We felt strongly about his case and that’s why we used every available avenue to appeal, but the committee’s decision to uphold the NCAA staff’s ruling ends the process.”

The NCAA’s Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee, a group of college and conference administrators, decided to uphold the decision of the NCAA to withold Staiger from competition for a year. Staiger, who played two seasons for the Ehingen club team in Germany, was not certified for competition in

October when the NCAA discovered that two members of the team had received stipends for their participation on the team, making it a professional organization.

Staiger maintains he was not paid for his services and has said he will stay enrolled at Iowa State no matter what ruling was handed down. On Saturday, he was unavailable for comment.

The ruling came late Friday just three days after an appeal was made by Staiger, Pollard, Cyclones’ coach Greg McDermott and Josh Snyder associate athletic director of compliances.

“We felt that we presented compelling, mitigating factors which we hoped would result in Lucca’s clearance to play,” Pollard said. “The committee felt otherwise and chose to agree with the NCAA staff’s decision.”

Staiger, a 6-5, 220-pound freshman, averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.4

assists as a senior at Decatur Christian High School in Illinois and has been

the subject of “free Lucca,” chants throughout the Cyclones first nine home games this season. Despite the loss, Staiger still has three years of eligibility.

“The support of Cyclone fans and his coaching staff were big factors in Lucca’s

decision to stay at Iowa State University,” Pollard said. “I think the Cyclone fans helped Lucca realize that Iowa State is a great place for him.”