Gophers wrestler Joel Bauman is choosing his music career over wrestling.
It’s a choice that he wishes he didn’t have to make, but an NCAA by-law prohibits Bauman from using his name as a student-athlete to “promote the sale of a commercial product,” according to J.T. Bruett, the athletic department’s director of compliance at the University of Minnesota.
“My mind is made up,” Bauman told the Star Tribune. “If you want to take away the eligibility, that’s great, but I still plan on changing other people’s lives.”
Bauman writes music and has posted his performances and videos on YouTube.
Bauman could easily avoid the compliance issue by using an alias, but he chooses to go by his own name.
