UW Football Can Add 13 Scholarships Following NCAA Eligibility Ruling
If needed, the University of Washington football program picked up another 13 scholarships following an NCAA Division I board of directors' vote on Friday to grant fall athletes an additional year of eligibility and an extra year to complete it.
The Huskies have 13 seniors whose final football seasons were put in limbo when the Pac-12 suspended all fall sports competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic until January 1 at the earliest.
While some of those athletes could choose to not to return and make themselves available for the NFL draft, they at least have the option to play college football again amid an unprecedented interruption to college football. The Huskies can add those 13 scholarships to the maximum of 85 permitted.
"What they're talking about is if there is no season, with the 13 seniors, everybody's eligibility will basically be put on pause," UW coach Jimmy Lake said. "It'll be like this season never happened."
In a set of protections benefiting the athletes, the NCAA board also determined that schools are prohibited from requiring these students to waive their legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of participation. Schools also can't cancel or reduce scholarships if the athletes decide not to play because of the contagion.
The NCAA, while providing athlete protection, acknowledged schools could have difficulty managing scholarships and rosters for future teams. Teams could run into a substantial backlog of players, yet the hope is normal attrition will bring rosters back to normal levels.
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Husky Maven. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.
