Once-homeless Baylor RB ineligible

— -- Baylor walk-on running back Silas Nacita announced that the NCAA ruled him ineligible because he accepted impermissible benefits while he was homeless last summer.

However, the NCAA tweeted Wednesday that they did not issue any decision regarding Nacita's eligibility.

Baylor confirmed that Nacita is no longer a part of the football program.

"Silas Nacita will not be a part of the football program moving forward due to rules violations that impact his eligibility," Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said in a statement released by the school. "We appreciate his contributions to Baylor football and wish him well as he completes his studies."

Nacita, a backup who rushed for three touchdowns last season, walked on to the Baylor program in the summer of 2014 after being homeless for a year.

"A few months before enrolling, a close family friend approached me and said they didn't want me sleeping on floors and wondering how I was going to eat the next meal," Nacita wrote on his @Salsa_Nacho Twitter account, "so they insisted on putting me in an apartment and helping out with those living expenses.

"Because I accepted that offer instead of choosing to be homeless, I am no longer eligible to play football and pursue my dream. I had no idea I was breaking any rules, but I respect the decision of the NCAA."

Nacita, a native of Bakersfield, California, had transferred from Cornell but was unable to enroll in 2013. He lived homeless for the next year and took online community college courses at a library while sleeping on the floor at friends' apartments. He earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors in his first year at Baylor.

He did not participate in the Bears' first spring practice Tuesday.