NCAA giving spring athletes another year of eligibility

The NCAA is granting Division I spring-sport athletes who had their seasons cut short by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic an extra year of eligibility.

The college athletics governing body’s Division I Council voted on the measure Monday, giving all spring-sport athletes an extra year of eligibility, regardless of their year. However, financial aid for seniors whose last season of competition would’ve been this spring will be left to the discretion of their academic institution. 

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” council Chairwoman M. Grace Calhoun, who is also the athletics director at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

“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,” she added.

Normally, Division I athletes have four years of eligible competition in a five-year period.

The council didn’t grant an extra year to athletes who played winter sports, such as basketball and hockey, as the council noted that the majority, if not the entirety, of their regular seasons had already been completed when play was halted.

The championships for all winter sports, including the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments, were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.