KENTON, Ohio -- Former Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk testified Thursday that a foot injury prevented him from playing or even practicing at times during his freshman season in 2003 at Wake Forest, where he played before transferring to Cincinnati.
Mauk should be granted a sixth year of eligibility and that the NCAA has been unwilling to listen to Mauk's arguments, attorney Kevin Murphy told Hardin County Judge William Hart, who is overseeing the lawsuit in the town where Mauk grew up.
Hart on Thursday turned down the NCAA's request to dismiss the case, and it was unclear when he would decide on Mauk's request for a permanent injunction that would allow him to play for the Bearcats.
NCAA attorney Linda Salfrank said athletes have a five-year window to play once they arrive on campus and that Mauk used up his time. She said that Mauk's attorneys had shown no evidence that his foot injuries kept him from playing that first season at Wake Forest.
"What has been requested was an extension of his five-year clock," she said.
Mauk has been turned down five times by the NCAA, including an appeal that was rejected Wednesday by the association's reinstatement committee.
Mauk testified Thursday that a foot injury prevented him from playing or even practicing at times during his freshman season in 2003 at Wake Forest, where he played before transferring to Cincinnati.
He also broke his right arm and separated his shoulder in Wake Forest's season opener in 2006.
"I've had two years taken away from me," he said in Hardin County Common Pleas Court.
His foot injury lingered at Wake Forest and he often couldn't complete running drills during his first year, Mauk testified. He said he received daily therapy on his toe after practice.
"Almost every day, the end of my big toe was bleeding into my sock," he said.
Wake Forest quarterbacks coach Jeff Mullen told him he needed to be ready to play because the team only had three scholarship quarterbacks, Mauk said. "He needed me out there as an insurance policy," he said.
Mauk never played that year. But during one final practice, he tried to go in a scrimmage.
"I got pummeled," he said. "I couldn't make any throws."
Carol Iwaoka, chair of the NCAA's reinstatement committee, testified that Mauk's appeal was turned down because he had been cleared to play during his freshman season and was on the team's travel squad. She acknowledged that the committee was told by three doctors that Mauk could not have played that season but said committee members looked beyond those opinions to make a decision.
Mauk was one of college football's biggest success stories last year after transferring to Cincinnati.
He threw for 31 touchdowns and 3,121 yards last year, leading Cincinnati to 10 wins and a No. 17 final ranking. Then he asked for another season of eligibility because of the injuries.
When the NCAA turned him down, Mauk appealed again, this time contending that he had to redshirt his freshman season at Wake Forest because of injury. The NCAA ruled that there was inconclusive evidence in Wake Forest's records.