NCAA to Grant Spring Athletes Relief for a Season of Eligibility

Yappi

Yappi

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So far, it appears only for DI but I suspect it will be for all divisions.

How will this affect incoming Freshmen next school year? Fewer open spots and fewer scholarship opportunities. Might be a little bit of a squeeze next year.
 
 
So, if someone with a Div I or Div II baseball player could answer , Is the scholarship money still year to year ?
 
Agree if you are a coach who do you play a 19 yr old freshman or a 23 yr old 5th year sr. ?
I know, you play whoever is best. BUT, do NCAA Jrs. & Soph. & fresh. get an extra year too?
I have not heard about that yet
 
That is an interesting question. That 5th year Senior might be the best player on the team. The incoming Freshman might have considered that opening for a position when deciding what school to go to.

Also, do they loosen up the scholarship rules. Basically any "extra" year player, his scholarship does not count toward the schools allotment? I can see some schools getting in a little bit of a tough situation where they thought there were going to be some scholarships opening up due to graduation that are still being used next year.
 
sig4969 said:
So, if someone with a Div I or Div II baseball player could answer , Is the scholarship money still year to year ?
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I think all scholarships are still year to year. I think there was an effort to offer 4 year scholarship up front but since in the big sports the super stars were not interested in committing to four years, I think the effort died. Also, in men's sports other than football and basketball, you get a partial scholarship sometimes as small as a 1/4.
 
Yappi said:
That is an interesting question. That 5th year Senior might be the best player on the team. The incoming Freshman might have considered that opening for a position when deciding what school to go to.

Also, do they loosen up the scholarship rules. Basically any "extra" year player, his scholarship does not count toward the schools allotment? I can see some schools getting in a little bit of a tough situation where they thought there were going to be some scholarships opening up due to graduation that are still being used next year.
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When my son was potentially getting recruited for swimming, we talked to our club coach about all the inane rules that were in place at the time. For example, at the time, no offers could be made or official visits made until the beginning of his senior year. The club coach said it was an attempt to make it an even playing field financially. I think that is what you will have happen with this; some schools will not want to add scholarships because of the financial impacts.
 
Son plays at D2. They believe the same changes will be in place in D2. The real issue though is for 4 & 5th year graduating seniors. Those kids most likely wont return for an additional year unless they are enrolled in a 5 year or masters program. Son's college had 3 senior pitchers drafted last June. Year before that 2 were drafted. Those kids are the exception, and wouldn't have returned for any reason knowing they were going to be drafted. A more realistic outcome would be for those current seniors graduating, to begin looking for employment, and not take on the burden of another year of student loan debt for one more year of baseball. Life goes on for those seniors. Regarding incoming freshman, most will probably get a red shirt year, unless they are studs. The remaining undergrads will be granted another year of eligibility, but how many actually take advantage of that ruling will depend where they stand academically. Even though baseball was cancelled, academics continues w/on line classes, effecting their graduation status, regardless where their baseball eligibility lies. I think the issue regarding incoming freshman's role within many D2 programs wont change much. Few will play, most will red shirt at the top programs, like always happens.
 
I can't imagine them giving an extra year to anyone except Seniors....and even then, I'm not sure how many will take advantage of it. A lot of kids aren't in 5 year programs....and with baseball only being partial scholarships, most guys would be paying quite a bit of $$$ for that 5th year essentially just to play baseball. As far as scholarships....they can say that the kids with the "extra year" don't count toward the 11.7 but the schools would have to agree to pay the extra. An awful lot of mid-majors aren't funding the 11.7 now. I'm having a hard time believing they'll fork out additional money to cover the kids an extra year. My son played at a mid-major...graduated last year, but is still friends with kids on the team. One of their top seniors wants to play another year, but will have to transfer, as his school doesn't have a 5th year in his major. Just really wondering if the numbers of seniors who decide to take the extra year will be as big as people are expecting
 
I think what may come in to play is that at the DI and II level they operate with alot of JUCO kids. I'm guessing a number of those kids would need extra time to finish their degree programs. Hence they get to play an extra season and finish their degrees. I can't imagine that many of these schools can afford or are willing to afford the extra scholarship money, if in fact that's how it rolls out. I would imagine that will put into play a number of incoming freshmen looking for other options?
I also cannot imagine any school administration allowing coaching staffs to push out unwanted seniors that wish to return.
 
Just posted a chunk of this reply on the Summer/Travel Ball Thread, not realizing that there was an ongoing discussion about the NCAA eligibility extension:

It's not uncommon for high school baseball players to sign their NLIs until spring of senior year. I'd be curious to hear of any schools who rescinded scholarship/roster spot offers upon news of the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility to spring sports athletes. It's important to note that it was not just college seniors awarded an extra year, but all spring collegiate players (if they elect to do so). This decision by the NCAA may affect the entire recruiting strategy at certain schools for the next couple years. The NCAA has also waived roster caps for baseball next year. However, just because a school can, doesn't mean they will. This is where it affects the high school class of 2020.

Additionally, the MLB announced it has the right to shorten its draft from 40 rounds to as little as 5. After the draft, I'd expect to see more players than usual return to school. Where I see most of the players affected is smaller schools (the majority of college baseball). Schools that do not have the budgetary strength of the LSU's and UCLA's of the world will face difficult decisions in their athletic departments over the next few years if they receive a high number of student-athletes who accept the eligibility extension.
 
My middle son will complete under-graduate work on time. He will be employed and essentially indentured to his employer contractually in exchange for having his graduate education paid. He will probably leave his 2022 D2 eligibility on the table, as there are only so many hours in the day. I guess he could be a DIII reliever if he provided needed help at some program. Pitchers only need a catcher to stay sharp, so schedules can adapt. I wouldn't mind visiting Nobby's Ballpark in the spring of '22 ;). Or even BW. If he wasn't taking up an athletic scholly anyway, just another arm in the pen without enough seats already. DIII rosters are crazy big.

My youngest, as an incoming freshman pitcher, will be unaffected scholly-wise - 1/2 academic and 1/2 athletic - and just has that much more time to get stronger as he isn't in game mode now. His offer was rock-solid before 17u summer ball was done, and I don't see the potential return of any of this year's seniors for a fifth season changing that. What coach would trade 1 year for 4, because a top kid would likely go to another school because his scholly is pulled ? I'd guess most of the time that the 5th extra year is not free unless a school's allowed scholly total jumps. How an extra arm or two may affect my youngest boy's usage in 2021 with potentially a better bullpen is anybody's guess.
 
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Unless an incoming freshman is a stud, most of the 2020 freshman may ultimately just get red shirted due to numbers. As the NCAA has given players an extra year of eligibility, assume that combined with the red shirted freshman from the 2019 class, roster spots will be at a premium. How many seniors will return for another year? in most cases, probably not many, unless they are enrolled in a 5 year program. The others will be trying to find employment after graduation. Even though colleges have been granted x amount of scholarship monies to distribute, its ultimately the university's choice how much athletic $ they will fund. Almost always mid majors down thru D2 don't budget the entirety of those athletic monies to give to kids. So much more academic money available anyway. Bottom line the 2020 class really gets a bad break. In so many cases those kids will miss up to two seasons of competition, considering they lost their senior year of high school, most likely most if not all summer ball, plus being red shirted next Spring. They will be able to practice while red shirting, but thats no substitute for game play. It sucks for sure for most of those kids looking to play college ball.
 
Giving an extra year of eligibility but do D1's get some relief for schollie monies if they want to spend I?. Like, can LSU have 15 schollies to spend next year on baseball if they want? And if they can, will schools spend extra scholarships? Again eligibility is one thing. Paying for it is another. Unfortunately, it does not look like the MLB draft is going to be much of a solution.
 
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But they don't even give athletic scholarships. The Transfer Portal is full of Ivy League athletes right now and they'd most surely get immediate eligibility
 
brianwr112 said:
But they don't even give athletic scholarships. The Transfer Portal is full of Ivy League athletes right now and they'd most surely get immediate eligibility
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I am confused. What are you trying to say, that the Ivy league should give their athletes another year of eligibility? If so, I agree with you. But the Ivy League does not put a high priority on its athletes. I don't think they have a conference basketball tourney. Do they? If they want to transfer to other teams and they are good enough, well good for them. Maybe they have decided that they don't want to deal with a bunch of fifth year students. The Ivy league is a different animal all the way around.
 
I think they should have the option just like every other NCAA athlete. They've just recently started having a bball conference tourney in the last five years. And realistically, I'm not sure how many Ivy kids would take them up on a 5th year. I'd guess most would enter the professional and it wouldn't even be an issue. Not giving them opportunity has lead to push back and students going into the transfer portal.
 
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