NCAA Plans To "Grant Relief" To Spring Sport Athletes, Suspends Recruiting

UofL baseball, men's & women's golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, men's & women's tennis, and track & field student-athletes could be granted an additional year of eligibility.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is planning to grant spring student athletes relief for a season of eligibility after cancelling the winter & spring championships because of the COVID-19 outbreak, announced in a set of statements by the NCAA on Friday.

Additionally, the NCAA has instituted a recruiting dead period effective immediately, and will be extended until April 15. During the dead period, in-person recruiting whether on or off campus is not permitted.

"Due to the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, Division I Council leadership today agreed that NCAA member schools should make the best decisions for the health and safety go their coaches, staff, student-athletes, recruits and communities.

The Council leadership put in place an immediate ban on in-person recruiting for Division I coaches. Additionally, the group advised schools to suspend any official and unofficial visits to campus from prospective student-athletes. This recruiting dead period will be in place until at least April 15, at which time the Division I Council Coordination Committee will evaluate. Telephone calls and written correspondence are allowed during dead periods.

Council leadership agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports. 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."

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NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee

This means that all University of Louisville athletes who participate in baseball, men's & women's golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, men's & women's tennis, and track & field could potentially be granted an extra year of eligibility, although nothing is certain of as yet. 

While this does not include the men's and women's basketball and swimming & diving athletes, the discussion is being held to potentially include them as well according to The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach and Stadium's Jeff Goodman.

This comes just one day removed from NCAA President Mark Emmert's decision to cancel all winter and spring championships, including the Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, which were set to begin next week.

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