Eligibility Granted

This past Monday the NCAA Division I Council granted the waiver to allow additional eligibility for spring sport athletes whose seasons were impacted by COVID-19. The official statement says:

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level. 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.”- M. Grace Calhoun

Universities will not have a scholarship cap for the 20-21 season and will be allowed to use NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund for student athletes who choose to use the year of eligibility for athletes whose “clocks” would otherwise be exhausted.

While the granted eligibility is something all athletes have been sitting at the edge of their seats for, the lack of financial help from the NCAA is going to leave many athletes with the sad reality they cannot afford the year they have just been granted. The NCAA went with the option that left them “safe”, not with the option that had their athletes at the forefront of their minds. The money is in the hands of administrators, from what I understand of the ruling, and not just granted to the coaches. And coaches no longer have to match the scholarship senior athletes were getting in their first four years. It is a stressful time for a lot of us because, unfortunately, the power is still not in our hands. We are praying that our universities will give us back what we gave them these last four years. But, with the financial strain that COVID-19 has put on most universities it is not looking likely.