Div. I fall athletes to receive extra year of eligibility
All NCAA Division I fall sport athletes will receive an extra year of eligibility via a blanket waiver approved Friday by the D1 Board of Directors.
The extension applies whether fall sports including football are able to play during the 2020-21 school year. In the Pac-12, all sports competition has been postponed for the remainder of the 2020 calendar year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Part of what we’ve been worried about is the mental health of these athletes,” ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson said. “There’s been a lot of anxiety about what do I do. This can put to rest some of that worry. If we get to play, I can play as much as we’re allowed and still have another year of eligibility. That’s a real smart mental health positive move by the NCAA, and I know we’re happy about it.”
The board adopted D1 Council recommendations
including working toward hosting scaled back fall championships in the spring. That would apply to such sports as women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and cross-country.
Final decisions on bracket sizes and championship staging still must be approved by the board provided spring championships can be safety conducted.
“Part of the disappointment was if I’m a senior and I’ve got one last chance to play for an NCAA championship in a fall sport and they’re not even having it then why would I play?” Anderson said. “Why wouldn’t I redshirt, I don’t want a partial experience. The fact they’re saying you’re going to get another year of eligibility no matter what and we’re also going to try to have fall championships in the spring, that’s a good thing.”
The board reiterated that its priority remains winter and spring sport athletes who did not have a chance to participate in NCAA championships in 2019-20 due to COVID-19. Those sports include basketball, baseball and softball.
Like with spring sports athletes this school year, the extra year of eligibility and financial aid of fall sport seniors will not count against team limits in 2021-22 (although the amount of aid for such athletes is subject to change).
Giving all fall sport athletes an extra of eligibility but only roster limit exemption for seniors for one school year will create roster management issues for several years.
“Those are very real consequences,” Anderson said. “You may have some squads with a lot of seniors who were anticipating moving on and you’ve recruited for some underclassmen and high school folks and now if a number of those seniors are going to stay, there’s going to be roster management problems and maybe some retention and recruiting problems.
“Overall I think it was the fairest thing to do when you take the whole body of student-athletes that have been impacted through no fault of their own.”
Other council recommendations adopted by the board include:
Schools are prohibited from requiring student-athletes to waive legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of athletics participation.
Schools are prohibited from canceling or reducing athletics scholarships if a college athlete in any sport opts not to participate due to COVID-19.
Athletes who do not enroll full time during the 2020 fall term have flexibility in the progress-toward-degree requirements that must be met for eligibility in future terms.