NCAA grants spring sports athletes year of eligibility

Less than 24 hours after the coronavirus pandemic prompted the NCAA to cancel all winter and spring championships, including events like March Madness and the College World Series, the governing body for college sports took another unprecedented step.

Spring athletes, facing the majority of their seasons being wiped out after conferences and schools suspended competition, will be granted another season of eligibility.

"Council leadership agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports," the NCAA's Division I coordination committee said in a statement Friday. "Details of eligibility relief will be finalized at a later time. Additional issues with NCAA rules must be addressed, and appropriate governance bodies will work through those in the coming days and weeks."

The decision gives new life to the athletic careers of seniors who play spring sports _ they include baseball, softball and women's rowing _ after many of them jolted to an end this week in a flurry of news releases by conferences and schools as the scale of the coronavirus outbreak came into focus.

Specifics about how Friday's decision will work with scholarship limits, roster size and other rules aren't clear.

"I don't see it as complicated as others might," said David Ridpath, president of the Drake Group, which advocates for academic reform in college athletics, and an associate professor of sports administration at Ohio University. "It causes some minor changes for two to three years, but if the NCAA is about the athlete this needs to be done and is fair. Any pitfalls can be dealt with. It's a new normal and all must adjust."