Western Kentucky University pulled football player Victory Vaka’s scholarship just two months after his mother died.
The senior defensive lineman stepped away from the program following the loss of his mom on April 2, flying home to grieve.
Now, just three weeks after laying her to rest, Vaka, a transfer from Texas Southern, has had the rug pulled out from under him with the school canceling his scholarship.
‘I was shocked,’ Vaka told CBS Sports.
He said that an assistant strength coach called him nine days before his mom’s funeral, passing along a workout program and informing him that he would be expected to be back with the team in June.
However, Vaka was left stunned when university chief of staff Travis Taylor contacted him on May 26, when he had not yet returned, to tell him that the Hilltoppers were canceling his scholarship.
Western Kentucky pulled Victory Vaka’s scholarship just two months after his mother died
The senior defensive lineman stepped away from the program following the loss of his mom
The Daily Mail has contacted Taylor for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Often, when a player has their tuition aid pulled, they are able to enter the transfer portal to find a new school via the NCAA’s aid reduction or cancellation exemption.
Yet, Western Kentucky opted to process him as a ‘failure to report’, effectively leaving him stranded.
The process is a disciplinary dismissal that prevents the aid cancellation exemption being used.
Vaka is now left one semester away from graduation with no way for him to transfer and use his final season of eligibility.
The NCAA also denied his appeal.
Vaka’s agent, Jaykwon Jefferson, told CBS Sports that multiple colleges would sign the lineman if he were able to enter the transfer portal. However, Western Kentucky’s designation of him as ‘failure to report’ has left him trapped.
‘It’s like inhumane what they did,’ Vaka said. ‘When some of these coaches say they care, they really don’t.’
The Hilltoppers head coach Tyson Helton is pictured with the 2025 New Orleans Bowl trophy
In hindsight, the 6-foot-3 Vaka believes that Western Kentucky were already looking to move on from him.
He said that head coach Tyson Helton didn’t provide a specific return timeline for him when they met in April but did add that he would support Vaka’s decision if he wished to go elsewhere, especially closer to home in California.
‘I didn’t want to leave Western Kentucky, but I had to be back at home,’ Vaka said. ‘(Helton) asked me, ‘If you don’t come back out here, I’m not going to blame you.’ That kind of caught me off guard.
‘I got that feeling they wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t come back.’
‘In my mind, they were giving me the whole month of May off,’ Vaka added, citing the assistant strength coach saying he expected him in June. ‘I think that’s where all this went sideways. The lack of communication from both parties.’
In a conversation with Vaka’s agent Jefferson, university chief of staff Taylor reportedly pointed out that Western Kentucky flew Vaka home after his mom’s death and then flew Vaka back to Bowling Green because the program was concerned about him, per CBS.
He also reportedly stressed that Vaka did not initiate any contact with the staff during his time away. Vaka admitted that he could have communicated better.
Taylor reportedly insisted that there was ‘no ill will,’ pointing out that Vaka had been away from the team for two months of the offseason and wouldn’t be in a position to play when providing the reasoning behind the school’s decision to move on.
Vaka shared an Instagram post paying tribute to his mother following her passing
‘We pay them all this money and tell them, ‘All right, now we expect you to be an adult and communicate and do all the things that adults do,’ Taylor allegedly said.
Vaka shared an Instagram post paying tribute to his mother following her death in April, featuring several photos of himself with her throughout his childhood.
‘Dear momma, I love you so so so so very much. I’m so sorry,’ he wrote. ‘Please watch over me and your babies. My heart is so broken for you baby. You’re in such a better place now. Give grandma and grandpa hugs and kisses for me please.
‘Whenever you couldn’t come to games, I knew what was up. I’d cry after games that you’d come to because I didn’t know when I’d see you again. You were so sick and you still tried your best because you’re the best mother in the world. You’d tell me you couldn’t do long drives anymore and would ask me or your babies to drive you because of your condition. You’d get us everything we wanted and needed and do it with the biggest smile on your face.
‘I still aspire to be the person you were and I don’t know if I ever will. My role model frfr. I will still do everything I said I was gonna do. And will do it under your watch!! Forever in debt. I love you so very much momma bear.’
