Amidst the coronavirus outbreak that has wiped out the remaining seasons for NCAA winter & spring sports across the country, the NCAA has agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I athletes who have participated in spring sports. Details of eligibility will be finalized at a later time.
The NCAA released this statement:
Council leadership agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports. Details of eligibility relief will be finalized at a later time. Additional issues with NCAA rules must be addressed, and appropriate governance bodies will work through those in the coming days and weeks.
However, this only seems to apply to spring sports, which encompasses baseball, softball, track and field, tennis and women’s water polo, among others. The NCAA has not provided any clarification on what will happen to those winter sports, like basketball or swimming and diving, athletes who missed out on competing at their respective championships that were set for the month of March.
Although it appears that a decision may be made sometime in the near future regarding that.
The NCAA announced on Thursday that it would be cancelling the remainder of the winter sports championships, including the entirety of the March Madness basketball tournaments and the Division I & III swimming and diving championships. The Division II swimming and diving championships, which began Wednesday without a hitch, and continued Thursday morning without spectators, was cancelled after just three sessions.
There has been an online petition going around since the news of the cancellation, calling for the NCAA to grant another year of eligibility to those affected by the coronavirus cancellations.
Many senior swimmers have expressed their sorrows for missing out on a chance to close out their NCAA careers.