The NCAA rejected a final appeal to reinstate Dez Bryant and Oklahoma State has probably seen the last of its All-America receiver.

An attorney for Bryant said Thursday that the one-year penalty handed down by the NCAA amounted to a “death penalty” for his client’s college career, considering that he’s likely to enter next year’s NFL draft.

“I don’t know that there’s much about this type of decision that would help improve a person,” Willie Baker, Bryant’s attorney, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I think there are other ways that the NCAA might try to develop – a different way of administering, if you want to call it punishment or whatever, but in the end it ought to be something that would be helpful to the student.”

Baker said he didn’t know for certain whether Bryant would enter the draft, but said the NCAA gave him no incentive to stay in school by declaring him ineligible through September 2010.

The NCAA rejected Oklahoma State’s appeal to reinstate Bryant on Thursday, bringing an end to the process that began in late September when Bryant sat out the first of five games while the NCAA investigated his offseason meeting with former NFL player Deion Sanders at a Texas athletic center. Since initially lying to an NCAA investigator about the meeting, Bryant has admitted he jogged with Sanders and went to his home. He also issued apologies both publicly and in a letter to the NCAA.

Bryant caught 87 passes for 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns last season while also scoring twice on punt returns.

No. 22 Virginia Tech wins

Freshman Ryan Williams ran for a season-high 179 yards as No. 22 Virginia Tech avoided its first three-game losing streak in six years with a 16-3 victory over East Carolina on Thursday night in Greenville, N.C.

Williams cracked the 1,000-yard mark as the Hokies (6-3) held off the Pirates (5-4).

Extra points

The Western Athletic Conference has suspended replay official Michael Goshima for one game after he failed to overturn a call in a game last weekend between San Jose State and Boise State. … The first college football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is going to feature Rutgers and Army, who will meet Oct. 16, 2010. … The Music City Bowl has extended its deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference through the 2013 season. Also, the Meineke Bowl is moving up one spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference selection order in a new deal that runs through 2013.