NCAA Grants Extra Year Of Eligibility To Division I Fall Athletes

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted on Friday afternoon to give all student-athletes in fall sports an extra year of eligibility and an additional year to complete it – no matter how much they play this year – through a blanket wavier.

The board also determined schools can’t require student-athletes to wavier their legal rights in order to participate or cancel/reduce scholarships if a player chooses not to play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We want to provide opportunities for student-athletes whenever possible,” acting board chair and Texas State president Denise Trauth said in a statement. “We understand it will be complicated and different, and we’re not certain how it will look. But we believe it’s important to try to give students that championship experience.”

Football programs are allowed just 85 scholarship players on the roster and the return of senior players mixed with a wave of incoming freshman will undoubtedly create complications that will need to be addressed in the future.

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