Schools can authorize an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility
March 30, 2020 6:50pm
The Division I Council on Monday voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.
Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote 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. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.
Schools 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.
Division I rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period. The Council's decision allows schools to self-apply waivers to restore one of those seasons of competition for student-athletes who had competed while eligible in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring season
The Council also will allow schools to self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility for spring-sport student-athletes, effectively extending each student's five-year "clock" by a year. This decision was especially important for student-athletes who had reached the end of their five-year clock in 2020 and saw their seasons end abruptly.
"The Council's decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level," said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn. "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."
Winter sports were not included in the decision. Council members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons were completed.
The Council also increased the roster limit in baseball for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only spring sport with such a limit.

This will be great for the quality of talent in College baseball.

It is not good news for high school recruits. They don't get back the year they lost, and it becomes more difficult to play the game in college.

I understand giving an extra year for college Seniors, but I don't agree with extending eligibility beyond that.

These college players lost about 2/3 of the actual season, but had the benefit of academic opportunity and 10 other months in the program (including Fall ball) working on their skills.

But hey - no crying in baseball! Congrats to those who will have more opportunities...the rest waiting in line will just have to work harder!

I think MLB deciding to have a very limited draft is one of the, if not the main, reason the NCAA gave everybody a year back. The juniors not expected to be top 5-10 but more than likely after that would really miss out of leverage if they didn't get their junior year back. If MLB was going to have a full 40 round draft like normal, I suspect NCAA would have given seniors only a year back. Yet, those juniors could still sign this year as undrafted if they want to. The maximum signing bonus though is $20,000. So they may say no way and hope for a better situation in next years draft.

This will also affect college baseball for several years, not just next year. It will be very interesting to see how each coach approaches it for their program. Glad the NCAA did leave it up to the school/coach to do what they feel best for their program. But it sure puts them in a tough spot going forward.