Spring Sport Athletes extra year eligibility

[toddc 13,194]

NCAA has granted spring-sport athletes an extra year of eligibility in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but athletes from winter sports will not receive an extra year

 

BREAKING: NCAA approves extra year for spring sports athletes

ByJASON CALDWELL 28 minutes ago 

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AUBURN, Alabama—After first recommending that senior student-athletes in spring sports get a waiver for another season following the coronavirus outbreak that brought the 2020 season to a close, on Tuesday the NCAA Council voted to give a waiver to all student-athletes in spring sports to get an extra year of eligibility. That means every athlete in the spring sports will essentially get a redshirt season in 2020 and have the chance to return next season if they choose while working out the financial aspects with their particular school.

For Auburn baseball it’s an issue that hits close to home with a group of seniors that saw their final season with the Tigers cut short. For first baseman Conor Davis, catchers Matt Scheffler and Chase Hall, third baseman Rankin Woley and reliever Ryan Watson, the opportunity to return is now there.

What it also does is give top juniors such as Tanner Burns, Cody Greenhill, Bailey Horn, Jack Owen, Steven Williams and others some leverage if they return next season. With the MLB Draft potentially only five rounds this year and free agent signings given a maximum of $20K for a signing bonus, having the ability to return will give those players and others around the country some options following this year's draft.

 

Meanwhile for the Auburn men’s golf team it opens the door for top players such as Jovan Rebula and Graysen Huff to return for another year and also gives talented true freshman C.J. Easley in essence a trial run his first season with the Tigers. 

“It was the right thing to do,” Auburn men’s golf coach Nick Clinard said on Monday.

 

With this news the NCAA also announced that roster limits for spring sports has been increased with the schools deciding for seniors whether or not they'll get an equal amount or lesser amount of money than they received for the 2020 season.

The decision does not include winter sports, which closes the book on the careers of seniors J'Von McCormick, Samir Doughty, Danjel Purifoy, Austin Wiley and Anfernee McLemore for the Auburn men's basketball team.

 

 

The following is the full release from the NCAA.

 

The Division I Council on Monday voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.

Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.

 

Schools also will have the ability to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships for students who take advantage of the additional eligibility flexibility in 2020-21.

Division I rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period. The Council’s decision allows schools to self-apply waivers to restore one of those seasons of competition for student-athletes who had competed while eligible in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring season

The Council also will allow schools to self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility for spring-sport student-athletes, effectively extending each student’s five-year “clock” by a year. This decision was especially important for student-athletes who had reached the end of their five-year clock in 2020 and saw their seasons end abruptly.

 

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn. “The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”

Winter sports were not included in the decision. Council members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons were completed.

The Council also increased the roster limit in baseball for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only spring sport with such a limit.

 

Now all this is left is to determine which players from the spring sports plan to return and how that will work financially, but Monday’s ruling is a huge step for college athletes around the country.

1COMMENTS

https://247sports.com/college/auburn/Article/Auburn-baseball-players-and-other-spring-sports-will-get-a-year-back-from-the-NCAA-following-cancellation-of-their-seasons-145553069/

[LKEEL75 2,566]

I am curious if the ones who have already graduated will have to continue to be enrolled in classes.  If that is the case, then it could be that several of the SRs won't take part in this and instead will go out and get to work.

[augolf1716 21,101]

I can also see it get ugly if a player wants to come back and the coach has other ideas as well as some other uncomfortable scenarios.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

I can also see it get ugly if a player wants to come back and the coach has other ideas as well as some other uncomfortable scenarios.

Yeah. Looks like the schools have the option of carrying more scholarship players on their rosters, but they don't actually have to pay for the scholarships. 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

Like everything else, I think this is going to get uglier before it gets better.

There are a lot of implications here that need to be figured out for the student-athletes and the teams.  

• Coaches thinking of going another way
• Do they have to take classes
• Will they have to pay taxes on these scholarships since school isn't paying for it
• And I am sure much more that I can't think of

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Yeah. Looks like the schools have the option of carrying more scholarship players on their rosters, but they don't actually have to pay for the scholarships. 

How can they carry more scholarship players, if they are not paying for scholarships? To me they are no longer scholarship players...I must be missing something here.🤪

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

How can they carry more scholarship players, if they are not paying for scholarships? To me they are no longer scholarship players...I must be missing something here.🤪

Correct, they would no longer be scholarship players in that situation. 

[toddc 13,194]

Also, what about freshman coming in who might have started if not for a senior, or player who would have been drafted, taking their freshman campaign away. They might’ve been good enough to play one and done, but now they’re going to have to wait a year. It is going to be a ripple effect for years.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Wisconsin has decided not to allow 2020 seniors (spring sports) to return for another year.  This may be a widespread response to some of the questions posed above.  Link:  https://extrainningsoftball.com/breaking-news-wisconsin-wont-allow-spring-sport-seniors-to-return/