Mohammed Bati is a two-time Division-III track and field champion at Augsburg University. He will not be eligible for his final season of NCAA competition due to an extremely controversial ban.
The rising second-semester senior accepted financial assistance from his local community.
Although his aid does not align with the branding and scholarship guidelines set by the governing body of collegiate athletics, the ruling presents a major double standard. Some Division-I athletes are making millions of dollars through NIL but only $6,000 will end Bati’s track and field career— pending appeal.
Who is Mohammed Bati?
Bati’s rise to the top of college running is not traditional. Born in Ethiopia, he and his family moved to the United States in 2018, which allowed him to compete for St. Paul Highland Park High School in Minnesota as a nontraditional GAP School student.
Although Bati did not necessarily take the world by storm, he posted respectable times in the 1600m and 3200m, which allowed him to launch his college career at Augsburg University as a 23-year-old freshman in 2022. Augsburg is a 156-year-old private school in Minneapolis with a total enrollment of approximately 3,100 students.
The Auggies compete in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on the Division-III level of NCAA competition. Mohammed Bati is their biggest star.
He claimed victory in 19 of his 28 races, won multiple conference titles, and twice finished second at the NCAA Championships. He also ran a blazing fast time of 2:12 at the California International Marathon earlier this month, which earned him a spot in the 2028 Olympic Trials with one of the fastest times in D-III history. His goal is to win a national title. It is within reach.
However, the soon-to-be second-semester senior will not be eligible for his final season of competition.
The Augsburg track and field star is banned by the NCAA.
Mohammed Bati announced on Christmas Eve that he will not be allowed to finish out his career. He was deemed ineligible to compete during his final indoor and outdoor seasons with Augsburg.
The ruling stems from financial assistance.
Bati is a nursing major. He struggled to make ends meet while working overnight shifts at an assisted living facility. His options were to not pay his tuition and drop out of school or ask for help. He chose the latter.
The local community raised $6,000 for Bati to pay his tuition. That allowed him to continue at Agsburg but it also ended his track and field career.
“I don’t think some NCAA rules are fair to everyone. I want to share something real today.
Last semester I was struggling a lot with money. I didn’t want to drop out or stop going to school, and the community around me came together to support me. People helped me with around $6000 so I could pay for that semester. I’m still grateful for that it was love, it was support, not anything big or business or something bad. Just people helping someone who needed it.
But the NCAA saw that support and said it was a violation. Because of that, I can’t run indoor or outdoor this year. They said someone paying for my school breaks the rule. I understand that’s their rule, but I don’t think they look at the story behind it. Sometimes people get help because life is hard. Not everyone has money. Sometimes it’s just one moment, one time, trying to survive and move forward.
It feels sad that instead of seeing support as community love, it’s seen as something wrong. I didn’t get paid. I didn’t get something crazy. Just help to stay in school. And because of that, I’m not allowed to run. That part is not easy to accept. I worked hard. I love running. I wanted to run this season with my teammates, make memories in my last year.
But even with all this, I’m still grateful. I’m thankful for everyone who helped me, who believed in me. I’ve been through a lot in life, and this is just another challenge. It will not break me. I’m not disappearing, I’m still here, still training, still smiling, still fighting for my dreams.
Sometimes rules don’t see the human behind the story. But I hope one day, things like helping someone won’t be a reason to stop them from doing what they love.
Thank you to my community, thank you to everyone who supports me. I will keep going.”
— Mohammed Bati on Strava
There is one key detail to note here. Division-III athletes are allowed to earn money through NIL.
Athletes at any level can be paid for endorsements, sponsored posts on social media, appearances, etc. Everything goes as long as the compensation is tied to the commercial use of the athlete’s name or image.
Athletes cannot receive outside financial assistance that functions as tuition support or additional athletic benefit unless it fits within the specific financial aid structure or NIL guidelines set by the NCAA. Mohammed Bati’s $6,000 gift did not qualify. It was more like emergency financial support.
As a result, he will not be allowed to finish out his college track and field career.
The NCAA guidelines on NIL are supposed to to prevent a pay-for-play system, even though it has been abused to the fullest extend on the Division-I level. Especially for football and basketball. Some athletes are making seven-figure salaries through “NIL” agreements. Bati’s money was not tied to this kind of agreement so it was technically illegal.