NCAA Rules on Eligibility of Spring Sports Athletes

[Skinny1]

The NCAA has ruled that all Spring Sport athletes will be granted an additional year of eligibility with no stipulations. Basketball and indoor track/field are not included. Also waves scholarship limits for the seniors.

As far as Lamar is concerned most Spring Sports do not have a bunch of seniors with the exception of men’s track and field (6). I believe baseball had 3 & softball has 2. Not sure about tennis and golf.

A full scholarship at Lamar costs the Athletic Department about $25k/ year, so if the athletes will stay another year (even though most are on partial scholarships), the financial cost to Lamar would probably in the neighborhood of $250k. And the NCAA monies doled out to member schools could be reduced by 70% since the NCAA’s largest money maker, NCAA Basketball Tournament, was canceled.

[geezer]

Question is who gets screwed the most, the spring sport seniors or the potential incoming recruits? You have to recruit based on the recruits junior year performance, so no chance for the late developer. I would think that other than baseball, most athletes that would graduate at the end of spring or summer may probably be ready to just get on with what they would do next. Baseball players looking for the MLB draft may go if they get drafted.

[Skinny1]

Question is who gets screwed the most, the spring sport seniors or the potential incoming recruits? You have to recruit based on the recruits junior year performance, so no chance for the late developer. I would think that other than baseball, most athletes that would graduate at the end of spring or summer may probably be ready to just get on with what they would do next. Baseball players looking for the MLB draft may go if they get drafted.

 

My understanding is the coaches are getting in touch with the seniors to explain to them the ruling and find out what their intentions are. I heard that at least half the track guys are interested in possibly returning for a final semester. Senior runners will not be eligible for cross-country or indoor track, just outdoor. So Coaches may not offer as much scholarship as they are currently getting, which might affect their decision.

[TexGator]

I like the ruling in so far as fairness is concerned. I think this will actually benefit FCS-type and non-D1 schools most because it means those schools will have less opportunity to snag the late bloomers- the "diamond in the rough" types... and also means those schools that do have student-athletes sticking around get fewer spots on their roster the next two years because of the ripple effect. So a kid who was being offered by UH might not have a scholarship available to them.

 

It stinks that schools that worked all season to position themselves to succeed in their conference tournament or in the NCAA tournament/playoffs... especially for the schools with elite programs (like UT softball, who beat the top 2 teams in the country in consecutive games right before the season shut down).

 

But, keeping the focus on the student athletes, it'll give those kids who were 8 weeks from being a graduating senior a chance to get started on a master's.