Winter Sports Extra Eligibility

[Lorcan]

Winter Sports to gain an extra year of eligibility regardless of what happens this year:

Extra Eligibility Article

"Even as NCAA winter sport student-athletes may get something close to a normal length of competitive season during the coronarvirus pandemic, the NCAA Division I Council nevertheless voted on Wednesday to allow those athletes an extra year of eligibility regardless of what happens during the 2020-2021 year "

An extra year of Paige for the Huskies?!?!?! Say it isn't so!

Apparently, I didn't read far enough as it appears to only apply to seniors. Kiana Williams is more than welcome to stay for another year to terrorize the Pac-12. Aari McDonald on the other hand, is welcome to go pro.

"The ruling is similar to the extra year afforded to spring and fall sports athletes. Teams will get to carry extra scholarships, for one year, to accommodate seniors who wish to exercise another year of eligibility."

 

[UConnCat]

Geno's thoughts:

 

[Argonaut]

They just gave it the green light because they know UConn doesn’t have any seniors.

 

[UConnCat]

Geno on winter athletes getting an extra year of eligibility: "How does that make any sense? You get to play a whole year, play 26, 27 games, and then you get another year next year? I think you're going to have a lot of coaches that have a problem with that."

 

[eebmg]

So what is the negative exactly? I guess this would result in logjams in player movement?

 

[Plebe]

Winter Sports to gain an extra year of eligibility regardless of what happens this year:

Extra Eligibility Article

"The ruling is similar to the extra year afforded to spring and fall sports athletes. Teams will get to carry extra scholarships, for one year, to accommodate seniors who wish to exercise another year of eligibility."

They had already granted this blanket extra year to all fall sports athletes back in August, even those who are playing a full season this year. I find this decision utterly baffling, but once it was made, the winter sports were sure to follow suit.

NCAA votes to give extra year to D-I fall athletes

The vote to give an extra year of eligibility to Divison I fall athletes eliminates a cloud of uncertainty for those whose seasons have been postponed or could be further disrupted because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

www.espn.com

Apparently, I didn't read far enough as it appears to only apply to seniors. Kiana Williams is more than welcome to stay for another year to terrorize the Pac-12. Aari McDonald on the other hand, is welcome to go pro.

No, it applies to all athletes in all classifications. The articles mentions seniors in relation to the consequent expansion of scholarship limits.

 

[soxfan23]

I am not sure I totally understand this, but it sounds like everyone - including current freshmen - can get an extra season, meaning a total of five seasons including this season, but the extra scholarship relief only applies with respect to current seniors who elect to play next season.

So Evina could play three seasons at UConn! Unlikely.

It does make things easier for those thinking of sitting out this season, in that it eliminates a downside. As the first article indicates, though, a school can elect not to provide the extra season. Sounds like it can be done on a sport by sport basis, different programs could choose differently.

For a school/program that elects to do it, can they be selective and allow it for some players but not others? I didn`t see that addressed. Presumably yes, since scholarships are only for one year. Might be tough to do it that way though as a practical matter.

If the first article correctly describes the scholarship situation, then it does create some headscratching situations for schools that elect to use the extra year. For example, in UConn`s case - for the high school class of 2022, Brady`s class - the number of scholarships available would depend upon whether Westbrook, ONO, and/or Williams wanted an extra year. Unlikely any of them would, but when would they need to declare? The timing of when they would decide would potentially conflict with the timing of offering scholarships. The problem seems to compound the further out you get, 2023, 2024.

In addition to those kinds of complications, it would appear make it more difficult to recruit - obviously more blockage, plus prospective recruits won`t have a clear idea about who they will be competing for playing time with. Adds an additional level of uncertainty.

I don`t think Geno will want to go down this road. His top players are uniformly ready to move on at that point after four years. Too many downsides on the recruiting side. While he is in the unique situation of not having any seniors, he still needs to consider it now because of the impact on recruiting.

This only applies to athletes who would have exhausted their eligibility this season.

 

[Plebe]

This only applies to athletes who would have exhausted their eligibility this season.

"All winter athletes in NCAA Division I sports will be given an additional year of eligibility ... ."

NCAA grants extra year for winter sport athletes

NCAA Division I athletes who participate in winter sports will be given another year of eligibility, and football teams will be allowed to compete in bowl games regardless of record in one-time rule changes passed Wednesday.

www.espn.com

 

[Ozimoto]

The downside to this for coaches is that it could foul up recruiting and undermine commitments that may have been made to incoming players.

 

[EricLA]

The downside to this for coaches is that it could foul up recruiting and undermine commitments that may have been made to incoming players.

Also, if teams only get extra schollies for 1 year, but teams are able to effectively carry 5 classes starting next year, there will be a problem with schollies for the year after, when they are cut back to 15.

So for UCONN, 1 year from now, they could realistically have Evina, Christyn, Olivia, Aubrey, Anna, Paige, Nika, Mir, Piath, Aaliyah, Saylor, Amari, and Caroline. That's 13. Assume Autumn gets a schollie. That's 14. If we get Azzi that's 15.

However, for the following season, assume Evina leaves, Christyn and Olivia would technically be seniors eligibility-wise, so with the schollies going back to 15, we'd "only" have room for Ice. Say Geno recruits 2 more from that class, that would mean no schollie for Autumn, and someone else would need to leave.

UCONN is in a better position since we rarely use all 15 schollies so there is some room to grow, but when the class of 2022 comes in, it appears there won't be enough schollies.

I know things will work themselves out. Someone may transfer, Christyn and/or Olivia could decide to go to the WNBA after their 4 years regardless of the extra year of eligibility, but on paper, it's a potential problem.

 

[BobbyJ]

Also, if teams only get extra schollies for 1 year, but teams are able to effectively carry 5 classes starting next year, there will be a problem with schollies for the year after, when they are cut back to 15.

So for UCONN, 1 year from now, they could realistically have Evina, Christyn, Olivia, Aubrey, Anna, Paige, Nika, Mir, Piath, Aaliyah, Saylor, Amari, and Caroline. That's 13. Assume Autumn gets a schollie. That's 14. If we get Azzi that's 15.

However, for the following season, assume Evina leaves, Christyn and Olivia would technically be seniors eligibility-wise, so with the schollies going back to 15, we'd "only" have room for Ice. Say Geno recruits 2 more from that class, that would mean no schollie for Autumn, and someone else would need to leave.

UCONN is in a better position since we rarely use all 15 schollies so there is some room to grow, but when the class of 2022 comes in, it appears there won't be enough schollies.

I know things will work themselves out. Someone may transfer, Christyn and/or Olivia could decide to go to the WNBA after their 4 years regardless of the extra year of eligibility, but on paper, it's a potential problem.

As long as they can find one for Janiah Barker '22, I'd be all good.

 

[Plebe]