You can hear the disappointment in Abdur-Rahmann Yaseen's voice over the phone. To put it simply, he sounds like a high school football player who had his senior year taken away from him.

The four-star 2020 Northwestern wide receiver commit was ruled ineligible last Friday by the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA). As a result, he won't be able to play this year for Walled Lake (Mich.) Western.

"It's devastating," said Yaseen, the No. 8 prospect in Michigan who committed to the Wildcats last Dec. 28. "Heartbreaking, I guess."

The MHSAA ruled that Yaseen had already used all four years of his high school eligibility. In eighth grade he took three high school classes that, in the MHSAA’s eyes, started the eligibility clock which expires after four years.

Yaseen had been home-schooled until he entered Western High School as a freshman in 2016. Because he took those high school classes as an eighth grader, the MHSAA classified him as a sophomore that year.

Yaseen's father, Khalid, said that the origin of the problem goes all the way back to the end of his second-grade year, when he transitioned from traditional home schooling to the online Connections Academy. The family made a registration error that placed him a year ahead of where he should have been.

The MHSAA alerted Yaseen when he was in ninth grade that "there might be issues," he said. "But I didn't realize they would take my senior season away."

There is still some hope, however, because Western is appealing the MHSAA decision for a second time. Yaseen is unsure of the timetable for the appeal, or what kind of chance he has of the decision being overturned.

There has also been a backlash against the MHSAA’s ruling on Twitter and in the media. Yaseen just turned 17 years old and never transferred. He has always maintained good grades. In essence, he is being punished for taking classes above his grade level — something that the sport’s governing body probably shouldn’t want to discourage.

One positive in this overwhelmingly negative situation for Yaseen is how Northwestern has backed him. He told head coach Pat Fitzgerald, recruiter Jeff Genyk and recruiting staffer Bryan Payton of the news "a couple days" after the MHSAA's decision.

"They were disappointed, but they supported me," said Yaseen, one of two four-stars in the Wildcats’ class. "They supported me 100%. They said I've done enough work already (to earn a scholarship)."

Yaseen had always planned on graduating from Western in December and enrolling early at Northwestern in January of 2020. So those plans are still intact.

"My goal is to get ready to play at Northwestern, to get ready for spring ball (next year)," he said.

Still, Yaseen is facing the fact that he will most likely sit out a season for the first time since before he played youth football. He can still participate in practices, so he was out there with Western's team on the first day of preseason practice on Monday.

Yaseen is obviously one of Western's best players, but because he won't be able to play in games, coaches plan to use him on the scout team offense each week. Yaseen says he's going to be "the scout team player of the week" regularly this season.

"It's going to be tough, but I'm going to try to be supportive of my guys. I'm going to try to be a great teammate," he said.

Yaseen's teammates "are definitely heartbroken" by his situation, as well, said Yaseen. But he is determined that his hardship doesn't take away from Western’s season.

"My job is to keep them focused on their season,," he said. "I'm going to try not to be a distraction."

Yaseen is keeping his chin up, but the tone in his voice hints at his disappointment. He thinks most people in his situation would feel the same way.

"I think anybody would be down," he said. "They're taking away something I love."