After a long, frustrating four-and-a-half month wait to get a ruling, Drew Ott finally got one.

And it wasn’t what he was hoping for.

The NCAA denied the Iowa defensive end’s appeal for a medical hardship waiver, which means he’ll enter the NFL draft.

Can confirm. Drew Ott’s appeal for a medical hardship waiver has been denied by the NCAA. An NFL team will get a helluva deal. — marcmorehouse (@marcmorehouse) April 13, 2016

Ott was denied a chance to return for a fifth year because he exceeded the 30-percent threshold needed to get a medical hardship waiver. Even though Ott technically played in more than 30 percent of Iowa’s games — he appeared in six — he was only a a full participant for two of them.

A torn anterior cruciate ligament and an elbow injury plagued what was supposed to be a banner senior year for the Iowa captain.

With his status in flux, Ott was not able to hire an agent or participate in team activities. He attended the combine and Iowa’s pro day, but he wasn’t awarded the luxuries that other prospects have during the pre-draft evaluation process.

According to Cedar Rapids Gazette reporter Marc Morehouse, “Ott signed with agent Neil Cornrich and will begin visiting with NFL teams leading up to the draft on April 28, according to a source.”

It remains to be seen how big of a hit Ott will take because of his inability to hire an agent for the last four months. According to his high school coach, Jeff Ashby, scouts said that they assumed Ott was going back to school.

Ott will leave Iowa with 26 career tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. The former second-team All-B1G selection’s best season came in 2014 when he racked up 12 TFLs and eight sacks.

The draft will kick off two weeks from Thursday in Chicago. There is, however, a possibility that Ott will have to wait longer to have his name called.