Possible 5th year for Seniors? NCAA says maybe...

[AKBison]

The NCAA just announced that Spring sport athletes will get an additional year of eligibility. They also said they are determining what to do about Winter sport athletes whose seasons weren't complete yet. It would be tremendous to have the boys back one more year. Ward and V will have pro opportunities overseas but that can't look real appealing right now. If we got them back it would be monster for our program.

[Mr Meaty]

The NCAA just announced that Spring sport athletes will get an additional year of eligibility. They also said they are determining what to do about Winter sport athletes whose seasons weren't complete yet. It would be tremendous to have the boys back one more year. Ward and V will have pro opportunities overseas but that can't look real appealing right now. If we got them back it would be monster for our program.

It sure would be but most of the league will have their guys back as well. So how do they handle the extra players. Expand rosters? What about scholarships? Spring players should definitely get an extra year. They had little to no season for them.

[IndyBison]

It sure would be but most of the league will have their guys back as well. So how do they handle the extra players. Expand rosters? What about scholarships? Spring players should definitely get an extra year. They had little to no season for them.

All things to work out and probably why they are taking more time. You would also run into students who have graduated. Can they work toward a second bachelor's degree or do they have to take graduate courses? I like the idea they are considering ways to make this happen though.

[Bisonator98]

Why open that can of worms? How do they plan on handling scholarships then? What a shit show!

[Professor Chaos]

Saw this idea floated yesterday and more I think about it the more I don't like it (at least for men's and women's basketball). Probably around half of all D1 teams had actually already completed their seasons (not counting CBI and CIT potential teams) so you're basically giving them another full season because the other half of the teams missed 1 to 9 extra games.

I'd say look for any possibility do the winter sport championships up until the timeframe of the spring sport championships and if you can't do it by then it just wasn't meant to be.

For as crummy as I feel for the NDSU men imagine how the USD women must feel? They had a historically good season and were set to be a 5 or 6 seed in the women's tournament if not higher. It might be a long time before they have a team that competitive nationally again.

[Mr Meaty]

Saw this idea floated yesterday and more I think about it the more I don't like it (at least for men's and women's basketball). Probably around half of all D1 teams had actually already completed their seasons (not counting CBI and CIT potential teams) so you're basically giving them another full season because the other half of the teams missed 1 to 9 extra games.

I'd say look for any possibility do the winter sport championships up until the timeframe of the spring sport championships and if you can't do it by then it just wasn't meant to be.

For as crummy as I feel for the NDSU men imagine how the USD women must feel? They had a historically good season and were set to be a 5 or 6 seed in the women's tournament if not higher. It might be a long time before they have a team that competitive nationally again.

I thought of that last night. SDSU made the Sweet 16 round last year. USD could have possibly gone further into the tourney.

[bisonp]

I can't imagine them doing that for winter sports. Everybody played a full regular season. Most teams were done playing anyway.

[IndyBison]

Why open that can of worms? How do they plan on handling scholarships then? What a shit show!

They either allow teams to expand the number of scholarships granted or they could exempt the current seniors from that count. Current non-seniors could be planned for in the future as they recruit. It's also possible they could choose not to extend a scholarship offer for a current senior and there will be plenty who choose not to continue (especially for the non-revenue sports impacted in the Spring - track, tennis, softball and to some extent lacrosse and baseball).

Adding the winter sports does create some complexity. Would it only be for those teams still alive in the tournament? What about teams would could have still been invited to participate in a post-season tournament? What about sports that were not yet completed? What about wrestlers who didn't qualify for the national championship? I'm not sure if the national swim meets had occurred, but the same would apply there.

[stevdock]

Why open that can of worms? How do they plan on handling scholarships then? What a shit show!

Oh come on. Being a life long North Carolina fan I can't wait to see that entire team play again next year . Oh yeah minus their most talented player going pro.

[JohnnyExtacy]

I'm just speculating, but I am assuming this doesn't include basketball. Basketball is considered a winter sport, and this mandate is for spring sports because it's consistent and across the board.