Today, Pat Fitzgerald announced what we've all suspected for weeks: Venric Mark will not return this season. After struggling with a hamstring injury early in the season, Fitzgerald announced that Mark suffered an ankle fracture against Wisconsin. Now the question becomes whether Mark will pursue a fifth year and whether he would be eligible. He appears to meet the requirements:
In order to be eligible for a medical redshirt, Mark has to have competed in fewer than 30 percent of NU’s games and he must be held out of those games for medical reasons, not just because NU wants to save him for next year. He also can’t participate in a game in the second half of the season. Technically, Mark meets all of those requirements so far. He’s participated in three games (25 percent) and barely played in two of them, so he would have a good case in that respect. Also, the last game he played in was the sixth game of the season against Wisconsin, and that falls in the first half of the season.
Since the injury was an ankle fracture, not just a setback, that would probably strengthen Mark's case. We'll have more as the situation develops. Check out the NCAA's medical hardship bylaw in the meantime. The link above (also linked here) has more on Mark's case for a waiver.