The NCAA's Division I Council voted Monday to provide eligibility relief to spring sports athletes who had their 2020 seasons abruptly halted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Per the vote, schools can self-apply a one year extension of eligibility to spring sports athletes, each athlete's five-year window to complete eligibility is also extended a year, the NCAA scholarship limit will be adjusted to accommodate seniors wishing to return for another year (the parameters aren't specified) and the 35-player roster limit for baseball (the only spring sport to have one) will be increased to accommodate impacted athletes.
In an interesting wrinkle, the NCAA 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." That only applies to players who would have exhausted their eligibility this semester.
Schools will 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.
“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” Council chair and Penn athletic director M. Grace Calhoun said in a statement. “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.”
The Council decided not to offer eligibility relief to winter sports athletes who were denied a chance to compete for conference and/or NCAA championships.
USC baseball coach Jason Gill addressed the potential for eligibility relief in talking to TrojanSports.com a couple weeks ago.
"I've had one senior call me and tell me he wants to do it. I haven't really reached out to all of them to ask them that. I kind of want to let things settle in for a little bit before I move in that direction," he said at the time.
Meanwhile, USC athletic director Mike Bohn put out a statement in response to the news.
