NCAA approves another year of eligibility for spring athletes

The NCAA Council approved an extra year of eligibility for all Division I spring athletes due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Council met on Monday to finalize their decision.

DI Council grants waiver to allow additional eligibility for spring sport athletes whose seasons were impacted by COVID-19: https://t.co/v1zriEBDvR pic.twitter.com/g9BbOkmnt0

— NCAA (@NCAA) March 30, 2020

The Catch

This historic decision did come with a catch; the decision to extend scholarships is in the hands of the universities now. Each school will be able to offer less (or zero) aid or match what they provided this year. The decision is up to each school for each athlete. That means an athlete could be welcomed back with a spot on the team, but have $0 in athletic scholarship money.

NCAA rules usually prohibit schools in the Power Five conferences or any non-Power-Five school that makes a multi-year scholarship offer to reduce the amount of aid an athlete receives from one year to the next for athletic reasons.

The Council decided to agree on adjusting scholarship limits to account for incoming athletes and athletes who stay for an extra season. The potential impact Athletic Directors are discussing range from cost to scholarship management.

The NCAA also issues a thank you to all the Student-Athletes and everyone else in the country for their understanding regarding the cancellation of spring sporting events.

An open letter to NCAA student-athletes from members of DI, DII and DIII SAAC: https://t.co/40ZNH7vtcM#UnitedAsOne pic.twitter.com/8Sv5BNj4BW

— NCAA (@NCAA) March 27, 2020

Winter Sports

The Council also came to a conclusion regarding Division I winter sports. Their decision was to not grant an extra year of eligibility to seniors participating in winter sports.

NCAA Winter championships, including March Madness, were canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.