I reported late last night that USF football quarterback Brett Kean had been suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season due to academic issues and since then, multiple outlets have reported that it isn’t the case.

I’ve been told by sources very close to #USF QB Brett Kean that the report he’ll miss the season’s first four games for academic reasons is not true. Not saying there weren’t issues, but they all appear to have been cleared up, my sources say. — Joey Knight (@TBTimes_Bulls) July 11, 2018

Our pal Joey Knight was just doing his job and got it sourced going another way.

After staying mum all morning, I can confirm that Kean is academically ineligible for the first four games of the 2018 season, but it is likely it will be reduced to two games. Kean has appealed to the NCAA through what was described to me as a “unique waiver” to get final two games removed as well, per a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

I have confirmed that Brett Kean has been ruled academically ineligible for the first four games of the 2018 season. It’s “likely” he’ll miss just the first two games. Kean has also appealed to the NCAA to drop the last two games. “Very unique” appeal. https://t.co/X1OhgtSVqb — Award Winner Nathan Bond (@BullsNathanSBN) July 11, 2018

Here’s the timeline of events:

I received a text message from “Source One” at 10:30 p.m. last night stating that Kean is suspended/ruled ineligible for the first four games for academic reasons. I immediately stopped what I was doing and tried to confirm the information.

At 10:45 p.m. I got it confirmed by a second source. The Daily Stampede makes certain that any story like this we have nailed down before posting anything. In over two years of covering this beat, I don’t believe I have gotten something like this wrong. But, I wanted to be sure, so I searched for another source.

At 10:55 p.m. my third source confirmed the news as well. At this point I feel comfortable writing and posting this story.

At 10:56 p.m. I reached out to USF officials for comment, but since it was 11 p.m. I did not get a response. USF officials told me today that they would not be commenting on the story at this time.

Around 11:45 p.m. the story posts. Shortly after Kean direct messages me on Twitter regarding the story and asked that I take it down. I ask him to call me.

We speak for about five minutes and he tells me that he “messed up” in the fall semester which triggered the ineligibility, but did well during the spring which helped his case to get it reduced from four games to two. Kean says that his suspension had been removed completely, which was confirmed to not be true today. Kean is very optimistic that it’ll be removed, though.

I remained silent through this entire thing because I was mortified that I may have gotten this completely wrong. I could not sleep at all thinking I botched this entire thing, then had to go to work at 3:30 this morning to unload a truck. I’m glad my reporting was correct, but at the expense of a 20-something year old.

To sum up, Kean is academically ineligible for the first four games. It is “likely” he will be able to return after sitting the first two games. Kean seems “very optimistic” that his “very unique” appeal to the NCAA will be granted.