NCAA Grants Winter Student-Athletes Another Year of Eligibility

Due to COVID-19 complications, the NCAA will extend the same extra eligibility to winter student-athletes that it previously offered to spring and fall student-athletes.

Just like spring and fall student-athletes, winter athletes who compete during the 2020-21 academic year will each be granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA (and an extra year in which to complete it), should they so choose to use it.

Unclear is whether current seniors who opt to stay for the 2021-22 season will count against a team’s scholarship allotment.

In order to explain, let’s stay close to home and use an example from Carolina men’s basketball. Men’s basketball teams are allowed 13 scholarships per season. Garrison Brooks and Andrew Platek are the Tar Heels’ two scholarship seniors in the 2020-21 season. If either, or both, of them decide they want to play again next season, they would be allowed to do so. The question though is whether their scholarships would count against Carolina’s 13 or if they would be in addition to the 13.

If the scholarships of five-year seniors do count against the 13, it will cause major headaches for coaches working to figure out roster construction.

NCAA Division I Council chair Grace Calhoun (Athletic Director at Penn) noted that the council didn’t want student-athletes to have to choose between playing or electing to redshirt out of an abundance of caution in case a season was canceled in part or whole. Granting the extra year of eligibility allows all student-athletes to have the standard number of years of eligibility plus whatever part of this season is played.

The hope of the council is to use this one-time rule change in an effort to “provide as much opportunity and flexibility to athletes as possible amid the uncertainty that is hanging over this year of college sports.”

Calhoun told ESPN in an interview, “We felt it was important to make this decision now so student-athletes had the peace of mind to go into this season and compete. They know they can regain that eligibility and have their clock automatically extended, so they’re not taking that chance on the front end if they choose to compete.”

Keep in mind, this decision, though a one-time allowance, will not only affect the 2021-22 season but could affect each season up through 2024-25, when this year’s freshmen will be seniors. This means coaches will be having to completely re-figure out how to manage a potentially bigger roster for the next four seasons.

Stay tuned to AllTarHeels as NCAA-related COVID-19 information continues to emerge.

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