FARGO — A decorated Minnesota high jumper from the Twin Cities, who indicated he was going to transfer to North Dakota State and compete for the Bison track and field team, had his NDSU career end before it started.
Noah Cvetnic, a freshman at the University of Minnesota, had his scholarship offer at NDSU revoked because of offensive social media posts. He will no longer be part of the team, said NDSU head coach Stevie Keller.
It was another reminder for NDSU athletes the potential consequences of internet posts, in this case on the platform TikTok.
“It’s something we preach to the kids, anytime someone can take something the wrong way,” Keller said.
Cvetnic won a Minnesota Class 2A state championship in the high jump at Chaska High School in 2019 and carried a personal best jump of 6-9 1/2. He was Chaska’s first individual track champion since 2009.
Keller said it’s rare in his program where an offensive social media post is an issue.
“I think it’s something when you’re recruiting kids, that’s one of the first things we do is look at their social media accounts to find out if they would be a good fit for our program,” he said. “But it isn’t something we continually monitor.”
The NDSU school newspaper, The Spectrum, reported Cvetnic’s TikTok account had multiple videos with references to sexual assault and mocking drug addiction.
“It’s something we tell our kids, make sure you’re smart on what you put out there, you never know down the road what’s going to prevent you from getting a job someday,” Keller said.
NDSU announced Cvetnic’s intent to transfer in March on its track and field Twitter account. The Minnesota Board of Regents, citing a major revenue shortfall as the result of the pandemic, last fall voted to eliminate Gopher indoor track and field following the 2020-21 season, but kept the outdoor program intact.
