ONE BIG DO-OVER

The NCAA Division I Council granted spring sports athletes an extra year of eligibility

- TEDDY CAHILL

On March 30, the NCAA’s Division I Council approved a proposal to give eligibility relief to all spring sports athletes, effectively granting athletes an extra year of college eligibility to account for the cancellation of the 2020 season caused by the coronavirus pandemic. With the vote, Division I joined all other collegiate sports’ governing bodies in granting extra eligibility due to the loss of the 2020 season. Division II, Division III, NAIA and the National Junior College Athletics Association previously ruled in favor of eligibility relief.

For players who already had eligibility remaining after the 2020 season, their aid will be required to remain at the same level. For 2020 seniors, the NCAA will leave it up to individual schools on a case-by-case basis to determine how much aid to offer athletes. They will be able to offer less aid than they offered a player in 2020 or match it, but not exceed it. Within one program that could mean that one player gets offered a spot back, but none of his scholarship money, while another player is brought back at 100% of what he received in 2020.

The Council also adjusted rules to ease baseball’s restrictions of a maximum 35 players on the roster, a maximum of 27 players on scholarship and a maximum of 11.7 scholarships split among those 27 players. In effect, returning seniors will not count toward any of the caps.