NCAA Extends Eligibility for PLAYERS

[Hockeynation]

Great news for all College players & programs. NCAA extends eligibility for the players.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/...udent-athletes

[Split-N]

Great news for all College players & programs. NCAA extends eligibility for the players...

...but not great news for prospects in general and recruits already in the pipeline in particular. Wouldn't it be true that every senior (maybe even junior) that elects stay another year displaces someone in the pipeline? If so, major junior must be licking its chops.

[Bonin21]

I don't really see this as great news nor horrible news. In fact, I don't really see the point, unless the NCAA is giving up on winter sports championships already.

[Timothy A]

Are universities required to extend the eligibility or can they say thanks but no thanks?

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Are universities required to extend the eligibility or can they say thanks but no thanks?

Teams are always free to release / cut players whenever they want. But honestly, who is cutting a 5th year senior in favor of a frosh? Maybe a change in their financial aid package, but I certainly can't see teams letting go of experienced players with at least an above average amount of talent. I would think it certainly enlarges the grad transfer pool. Now you might get a grad transfer with two years left to play.

[altazo]

I also wonder if we will see a handful of elite D3 players move up a division if this season doesn’t happen and can be considered the “sit” year?

[SteveO]

Given that D1 student/athlete careers can be interrupted not only through injury or skill but by the NCAA's eligibility clock, IMO eligibility relief is a fair resolution for players whose seasons have been affected by the pandemic. But unfortunately the situation regarding recruiting and scholarships is going to be logistic nightmare.

Schools will need to individually apply the eligibility relief, and therefore choose whether athletes are allowed the extra season based upon their own review criteria. Some smaller schools may find that due to a drop in revenue during the pandemic, they simply cannot fully embrace eligibility relief given additional costs of expanding rosters.

The extra season of eligibility, would effectively take away that scholarship from incoming recruits.

Inevitably, roster rules and scholarship limits will need to be adjusted. With recruiting efforts typically assuming graduating classes will make room for committed new recruits, the effect of granting eligibility relief could potentially affect D1 hockey programs for a few years. Teams with large senior classes will encounter significant logistic and financial challenges.

Since the NCAA treats D1 college hockey as an equivalency sport, coaches divide up their scholarship budget to award as many recruits and current roster holders as possible with financial support up to 18 full time scholarships.

One option is programs could expand their roster to include a select number of new recruits until a return to normalcy. In this scenario, the NCAA could consider a 25% increase for example in scholarship money to cap the roster expansion by the same percentage.

The question is how much time will schools have to return to normalcy? Tough decisions ahead for many D1 programs.

[Lost_Husky]

Worst case, schools would have 5 years to get back to normal, as they can redshirt some 2020-2021 incoming freshmen. A more reasonable case might be 3 years. With kids leaving the program via transfer, grad-transfer, pro-contracts, injury, homesickness,... things should work themselves out.

Just my assumption, but any 23+ year old young man who feels that their "pro clock" is ticking isn't going to want to spend an extra year in college. There are always a few guys who don't see themselves having a pro career that might stay around for that extra year. The ones that stay at their original university will be a low number, maybe one or two per class. There could be a significant uptick in the number of grad transfers as school is/was still in session. They will be graduated with an extra year in hand. This could ease a lot of the burden on the roster and could really help St Thomas and Long Island be competitive and be more selective about recruits they bring in.