Baseball Gets a Break from NCAA, Crowded Rosters Now Easier to Deal With
STILLWATER -- Something had to give or college baseball coaches like Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday were going to have to act like Captain Hook and force baseball players to walk the scholarship plank and even tell them their was no place for them on the roster. There is nothing easy about the results of this season being cancelled before the midway point and allowing student-athletes that were seniors or draft-eligible juniors to return as well as welcoming in already signed recruiting classes. The 35-man roster limit and the scholarship minimum of 25 percent wasn't going to add up for rosters that will number in the mid-40s and beyond. The NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief came through.
The committee eliminated the roster cap of 35 players. They also increased the maximum number of players in baseball that could be on grant-in-aid (scholarship) from 27-to-32. Then they also helped for scholarship integrity and likely some happiness on the part of student-athletes and their parents or guardians the 25 percent scholarship minimum. Prior to today, baseball could not split it's 11.7 scholarships below 25 percent or one-fourth of a full scholarship. Now they can. D1 Baseball and Kendall Rogers first reported all of this.
Coaches like Holliday may not be able to deliver each player was was promised, but they can make sure more student-athletes gets some scholarship reward. All of that is going to make for very tenuous conversations as Oklahoma State has a full roster and 15 commitments on the way for next school year. Now, in that group of newcomers there are two strong draft prospects in pitcher Nolan McLean and fellow right-handed pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. Keep an eye on the MLB Draft.
All of these waivers by the NCAA will help college baseball. There will still likely be some cuts and some scholarships renegotiated, but this relief will help some.
Oklahoma State is likely not going to lose any players to the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft that starts June 10 and continues June 11. It is a five round draft and any players signed outside the draft are limited to signing a $25,000 deal. Baseball is in a crisis as far as trying to negotiate a season and they are shedding financial commitments like a snake sheds skin.
The NCAA promise of another year of eligibility for spring sport athletes has schools, also in a financial crisis due to COVID-19 wondering how to pay for it. Wisconsin quickly came out and told their seniors to get their diplomas and move on. The Badgers weren't interested in them staying another year.
Maybe if the NCAA keeps giving some relief like this, Wisconsin might change their mind.
