On the first day of the NFL draft, Jalen Robinette learned his hope of going pro immediately had vanished.

Now, his hope of graduating from the Air Force Academy and commissioning is in limbo, too.

Robinette, Air Force’s all-time leading receiver who became the face of a U.S. Department of Defense policy shift during the NFL draft, was not among the 979 cadets to walk during the Academy’s graduation ceremony Wednesday morning. In a statement released to the Denver Post, Ray Bowden, a spokesman in the public affairs office for the Academy, said Robinette’s eligibility and qualification to graduate is under review.

“Cadet Robinette was removed from the graduation lineup after academy leadership became aware of information that called into question cadet Robinette’s eligibility/qualification to graduate and commission,” Bowden said. “Cadet Robinette’s graduation and commissioning will be placed on hold while we further evaluate.

“Due to privacy-related concerns, we are unable to comment on the circumstances. We can say that the circumstances do not involve any allegations of criminal wrongdoing and are unrelated to cadet Robinette’s professional football pursuits.”

According to the academy, nine senior cadets were removed from the graduation lineup “for a variety of reasons” and their graduation and commissioning will be placed on hold, as well, as it evaluates each situation.

Robinette was originally set to be commissioned at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School, where he was to help coach the football team as a graduate assistant. But that, along with his degree and his potential as an NFL player is up in the air.

Should the Air Force Academy determine he is not eligible to graduate, Robinette could be asked to essentially pay back his tax payer-funded tuition or be asked to serve as an enlisted member. The latter option would prevent him from leaping to the NFL immediately. But if he is able to repay his tuition, be it with a loan or from a signing bonus from an NFL contract, he could go pro.

In his four years at Air Force, Robinette scaled the football program’s record books and earned invites to the East-West Shrine Game and the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. His football resume also landed him a projected slot as a mid-to-late-round draft pick in the April 27-29 draft.

But on Day 1 of the draft, Air Force informed the academy it would not approve requests for ready reserve, a path that was made available in the summer of 2016 when the U.S. Department of Defense revised its pro sports policy. Air Force’s decision was in anticipation of a new order signed by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, which was made publicly available two days after the draft.

Per Mattis’ order, the 2016 policy was rescinded and the old policy, known colloquially as the “David Robinson Model,” was restored. Cadet athletes are now required to serve a minimum two years of active duty before they can apply for early release to go pro.

The timing for Robinette and other athletes in the class of 2017 was devastating. After being told they could had a chance at going pro immediately after graduation — although ready reserve requests were never guaranteed — their opportunity disappeared at just when they hoped to get a call from an NFL team.

The highest-rated prospect from the service academies, Robinette trained for nearly a year while taking his required coursework to prepare for a dual future as an Air Force grad and NFL receiver.

In the wake of the policy shift, however, neither he nor his fellow service-academy prospects were drafted or signed as undrafted free agents immediately after.

Robinette competed in rookie minicamps for the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills with the hope of either signing him to a three-year undrafted free agent contract, allowing him to compete during the summer before being placed on a team’s reserve/military list while he fulfilled his active duty.

That hope was his best option, barring exception to the D.O.D. policy. Now he just hopes to graduate.