NCAA Extends Eligibility For Spring Athletes: What Does It Mean For State?

NC State senior athletes in baseball, softball, tennis and other spring sports will have decisions to make now that the NCAA has granted them an extra year of eligibility in response to the coronavirus crisis

The NCAA’s Division I Council on Monday approved a waiver granting spring sports athletes whose seasons were cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic an additional year of eligibility.

The decision comes as good news for seniors in baseball, softball, tennis and other spring sports whose careers would otherwise be over.

The NCAA, however, stopped short of granting relief to all athletes whose seasons ended prematurely. Winter sports athletes, including those in men’s and women’s basketball whose postseason tournaments were canceled, will not be granted an extra year of eligibility.

In addition to altering its eligibility standards, the committee comprised of athletic directors, administrators, faculty representatives and athletes also adjusted its financial aid rules to account for incoming recruits and athletes that decide to stay.

Schools will have discretion over the amount of financial aid seniors returning for their extra year will receive. Although they are allowed to honor current scholarships, they can also choose to offer less or no aid if they so choose.

The Council also increased the roster limit in baseball for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only spring sport with such a limit.

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletic director at Penn, said in a release announcing Monday’s vote. “The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”

What does that mean for NC State?

The Wolfpack baseball team, which was 14-3 and ranked No. 9 nationally at the time the season was shut down, has three seniors with decisions to make: closer Kent Klyman (1.45 ERA, 2 saves in five games out of the bullpen), outfielder Lawson McArthur (.200, 3 RBI) and DH Brad Debo (.263, 6 RBI).

The softball team, which was 19-6, has five affected seniors: leading hitter Tatyana Forbes (.538, 4 2B, 16 RBI), fellow outfielders Angie Rizzi (.313, 6 HR, 17 RBI) and Brigette Nordberg (.281, 7 HR, 21 RBI), infielder Skylar Johnson (.216, 2 HR, 3 RBI) and pitcher Devin Wallace (6-2, 2.91 ERA, in 12 games, 9 starts).

State’s fifth-ranked women’s tennis team has two important members with the option to return, No. 2 singles player Anna Rogers, who is ranked second nationally in doubles with teammate Alana Smith, and No. 3 singles player Adriana Reami.

The men’s tennis team, which was ranked No. 7, had only one senior member, No. 1 singles player Alexis Galarneau.

While Monday's ruling effectively turns back the eligibility clock for all the aforementioned senior athletes, it is yet to be seen how the ongoing coronavirus crisis affects juniors such as Patrick Bailey, Devonte Brown and Nick Swiney expecting to be drafted in June's Major League Baseball draft -- if there is a draft this year.