Coronavirus

[Skate79]

Re: Coronavirus

It isn't as simple as just the seniors. The juniors lost a year as well. So if you give all four classes a redshirt, that means that next year's incoming freshmen will have an "extra" class around for each year of their careers. Even if you have unlimited funds to pay scholarships, there are a finite number of spots in the lineup and minutes in the games.

Not an apt analogy. The seniors are done and should be looking forward to commencement (which also might not happen unless the spread is contained). The juniors, sophs and frosh all have academic year(s) and eligibility remaining with credits to accumulate. Giving the seniors eligibility (which by the way happens from time to time; see Mark Benning, Mary Parker, Kevan Melrose, and Michael Lackey) can be an option provided they have grad courses lined up or need additional credits. Otherwise your school looks like a sports factory masquerading as an academic institution. Of course that never happens.

[vicb]

Re: Coronavirus

Covid-19 this and Covid-19 that...But, don't forget vicb's theory of the bc curse is still active. There may be no cure for that...

I for one have not forgot about that one. The curse of the BCbambino lives for another year.

[NUProf]

Re: Coronavirus

That’s a bit harsh. There are plenty of talented, competitive athletes who are also serious students who would give anything to get a cancelled season back. Especially in women’s sports where college is almost always the end of the line.

I probably overstated my case, but not as much as you may think. There are also so lots of athletes of both genders (especially at the D-3 level, where I taught) who were serious athletes but not willing to compromise their academic progress. I knew a number of students who had an opportunity to get an extra year of eligibility but opted to just finish up and move on. I think there are a lot more of those types than people realize.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Coronavirus

It isn't as simple as just the seniors. The juniors lost a year as well. So if you give all four classes a redshirt, that means that next year's incoming freshmen will have an "extra" class around for each year of their careers. Even if you have unlimited funds to pay scholarships, there are a finite number of spots in the lineup and minutes in the games.

In theory, it lasts longer than four years, because this scenario probably leads to a fair number of those incoming freshmen redshirting their first year on campus, given the already full roster. So it just rolls the problem over. It only gets resolved when programs recruit fewer players in successive years. That may mean backing out of previous verbal commitments, especially in sports that have not adopted the new recruiting rules, though I have no idea what sports have or have not done so.

[ARM]

Re: Coronavirus

It isn't as simple as just the seniors. The juniors lost a year as well. So if you give all four classes a redshirt, that means that next year's incoming freshmen will have an "extra" class around for each year of their careers. Even if you have unlimited funds to pay scholarships, there are a finite number of spots in the lineup and minutes in the games.

[Offsides Guy]

Re: Coronavirus

I agree. This isn't much different from players who have suffered season-ending injuries just before the postseason for decades. It sucks, but it is the nature of collegiate athletics that one class moves on to make room for the next incoming class. At this point, it isn't possible to do anything that is fair to everyone. For Spring sports, if you don't give the added eligibility, that's unfair to the seniors (and juniors, sophomores, and frosh, because they lost majority of the Spring season as well). However if you do grant everybody a redshirt, then the current student athletes back things up for up to four years. It's rough.

I do feel if the Spring sports are cancelled within the same window as a medical redshirt would qualify for, those athletes deserve another year of eligibility. Having said that, the schools should be able to have the flexibility to rebalance their scholarships as needed as I doubt smaller schools especially can afford to continue all the seniors' scholarships another year as well as pay for the incoming freshman who were promised scholarships. This would give schools to, for example, ask a senior to move to a 50% scholarship. I also think they'd need to let all freshman out of their commitments if they want out. If the team you were planning to play for suddenly has 5 returning redshirt seniors, you should be able to de-commit and re-open your recruitment.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: Coronavirus

Covid-19 this and Covid-19 that...But, don't forget vicb's theory of the bc curse is still active. There may be no cure for that...

[vicb]

Re: Coronavirus

With everything cancelled and not much left to talk about, many of those "Experts" may well be looking for another job sometime in the near future.

You must not watch much of the Sports Center and Talk Show programming on ESPN. These announcers along with the "Experts" and the coaches (Basketball) can talk on any subject for 5 min or an hour and then have the next show repeat the same drivel with new announcers and new "Experts". There is always the NFL and the billionaire owners vs the "poor" players and who is going to get what percent of the expected $5 Billion next TV contract. Or the "Stupid Star" players making $30 million a year that don't want the 17th game vs the guy sitting on the bench making a "paltry" $400K min salary (I think) and want the extra game and extra money that they will make from the new contract. I love hearing the athletes excuse that they only have a certain number of years in sports and "have to" earn as much money in their 5 year careers that will be 100 to 1000 times what the poor factory worker will earn in a 40 year time span. Give me a break. I definitely watch in the AM too much of this crap lately. Glad we have an early spring here in Merryland so I can get out on the golf course with my friends and enjoy their company (and sometimes the golf) .

[ARM]

Re: Coronavirus

I get that it totally sucks to be a senior and lose out on a championship opportunity. But, that is not the equivalent of losing a whole year of eligibility.

I agree. This isn't much different from players who have suffered season-ending injuries just before the postseason for decades. It sucks, but it is the nature of collegiate athletics that one class moves on to make room for the next incoming class. At this point, it isn't possible to do anything that is fair to everyone. For Spring sports, if you don't give the added eligibility, that's unfair to the seniors (and juniors, sophomores, and frosh, because they lost majority of the Spring season as well). However if you do grant everybody a redshirt, then the current student athletes back things up for up to four years. It's rough.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Coronavirus

All the "Experts" on ESPN (Basketball especially) are now calling for not only the spring athletes be granted an extra year of eligibility, now they want to allow any of the winter sports athletes that have used up their eligibility to act as if this year never happened and grant them another year of eligibility.

Those experts are just beyond ridiculous.

I get that it totally sucks to be a senior and lose out on a championship opportunity. But, that is not the equivalent of losing a whole year of eligibility.

[D2D]

Re: Coronavirus

All the "Experts" on ESPN (Basketball especially) are now calling for not only the spring athletes be granted an extra year of eligibility, now they want to allow any of the winter sports athletes that have used up their eligibility to act as if this year never happened and grant them another year of eligibility.

With everything cancelled and not much left to talk about, many of those "Experts" may well be looking for another job sometime in the near future.

[vicb]

Re: Coronavirus

All the "Experts" on ESPN (Basketball especially) are now calling for not only the spring athletes be granted an extra year of eligibility, now they want to allow any of the winter sports athletes that have used up their eligibility to act as if this year never happened and grant them another year of eligibility.

And the Liberty League Presidents want the NC$$ to restore eligibility to "ALL STUDENT-ATHLETES" whose season was impacted by the Coronavirus? I wonder if they really want winter sports to be included?

https://libertyleagueathletics.com/n...-covid-19.aspx

[vicb]

Re: Coronavirus

The NCAA always allows for special circumstances, like a medical redshirt even if they have already redshirted in the past.

True, for the winter sports, they already played this year. It's just like if your team didn't make the playoffs. You're done.

But for the Spring sports, I got to think the NCAA will grant everyone a redshirt if you ask. If they don't, they are going to look really, really bad, and the last thing the NCAA wants is more bad press on how they treat the athletes.

All the "Experts" on ESPN (Basketball especially) are now calling for not only the spring athletes be granted an extra year of eligibility, now they want to allow any of the winter sports athletes that have used up their eligibility to act as if this year never happened and grant them another year of eligibility.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Coronavirus

This really depends on how many are student/athletes, and for how many the "student" part is a joke. Many of the real students will just move on and graduate on time, and they won't affect roster sizes at all. The ones who are not really students will create a numbers crunch.

Aside from what others have said, there may be a number of students who don't manage to graduate this spring because of campus closures. I'm not convinced that switching entirely to online classes will entirely fill that gap.

[ONR]

Re: Coronavirus

With pro sports shutting down and big name schools (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas) not participating, it was a done deal. Also the Duke AD is the current chair of the NCAA Basketball Committee. The Kentucky AD will be chair in 2020-21.