NCAA Pauses On Campus Recruitment Until April 15, Committee Recommends Extra Year Of Eligibility To Spring Sports

This could give another year to seniors who had seasons ended by coronavirus

After the NCAA cancelled their championships and spring seasons due to COVID-19, there were a lot of questions still up in the air regarding college athletics. The biggest involved spring sport athletes who basically just lost a whole season because of the outbreak of the virus. 

Per Jeff Goodman:

The NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports.

Committee will also discuss issues for winter sport student-athletes.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2020

This is just the first steps as it will need to be passed by AD's and continue up the NCAA hierarchy but this a great first step. The athletes, especially seniors whose college career were basically over because of the cancellations. This recommendation seems like a no brainer, and prevents players from baseball, softball and lacrosse (amongst others) from having their career end out of their hands. NCAA will need to provide more guidance on this issue though for a couple of reasons. As mentioned in the tweet, they still need to discuss what happens for winter athletes. Not exactly sure who would qualify, would men's and women's basketball players on tournament eligible teams? Hockey? Clearly we need more clarification here. 

The second question with this ruling involves recruiting. If these players are allowed back, that could mess up roster numbers given commitments already secured for next season. This could cause teams to exceed their scholarship limits. The NCAA will need to consider offering exemptions or extra roster spots to accommodate this issue. 

Recruiting Paused

The other coronavirus news involves halting on campus recruiting until April 15. This again makes sense, given that you don't want large groups together that could risk transmitting the disease. While losing this period certainly hurts for a school like BC, all schools are under the same rules. Coaches can still contact recruits through email phone and text during this time.