NCAA grants extra year of eligibility for athletes in spring sports

By Steve Lansdale

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — When the novel coronavirus shut down businesses and organizations across the country and in many parts of the world, one visible change in the United States was the shutdown of college and professional sports. At the college level, there were announcements that some conferences were “suspending play,” but before long those decisions were wrestled away from the conference commissioners when the NCAA cancelled all remaining athletic competition and championships for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

So while it wasn’t at the top of the list of the most important questions being asked these days, one issue that was raised repeatedly was whether anything could be done to extend the amateur eligibility of collegiate athletes who play spring sports, especially the seniors expecting to compete in their final college seasons in 2020.

The Division I Council addressed that issue [habeabk]