Examining additional NCAA eligibility for senior athletes due to COVID-19 cancellations

As the the threat of COVID-19 began to grow across the nation, the NCAA announced on March 12 that it would be canceling all remaining winter and spring championships, bringing all Division I collegiate sports seasons to an abrupt end. 

For seniors, this shocking news appeared to mark an unfulfilling end to their athletic careers. Unlike classes before them, these students faced the stark reality that an invisible enemy had stolen their last moments of meaningful competition.

With their last year of eligibility spent on a stunted season, many took to social media to advocate for an unprecedented change in NCAA structure. Allison Wahrman, an Iowa track and field senior, created an online petition that has received more than 300,000 signatures, calling for an additional year of eligibility for all Division I seniors. 

Such calls for action have been met with a promising response from the NCAA. Divisions II and III have already approved “eligibility relief” for seniors participating in spring sports, while Division I leadership announced in a March 18 news release that such relief “is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports.”

The NCAA also said its official position will be announced after the governing body votes on the matter on March 30.

While this apparent solution from the NCAA seems to satisfy all parties, a closer look at the inner workings of the Division I scholarship system reveals a litany of questions and complications that could prevent this crowd-pleasing promise from coming to fruition. 

Who will pay?

While the principle of granting another year to seniors is universally agreed upon, issues quickly arise when dollar signs and scholarships are thrown into the equation. If the NCAA were to allow players to return for an extra season along with a new first-year recruiting class, the burden of funding additional scholarships would fall either on the school or the NCAA themselves. 

Additional funding from the NCAA is unlikely, as the cancellation of March Madness eliminates a major source of revenue for the 2020 year. Long-term TV deals with CBS/Turner Sports will help keep it afloat during this trying economic time, but the strain of funding additional scholarships for Division I schools does not seem likely. The burden of compensating many of these athletes will likely fall on the schools themselves.

The financial burden is projected to be a heavy one. USA Today estimated that the cost for schools in Power Five conferences to ensure relief from spring sports alone could total anywhere from $500,000 to $900,000. 

For schools like North Carolina — whose athletic departments enjoy annual revenues of more than $100 million — the cost of granting these athletes an extra year may be justifiable. But for smaller schools that lack superpower basketball or football programs to buoy an athletic department, full scholarship and eligibility relief may be impossible. 

In these instances, one can envision a “pay to play” system where fifth-year seniors may be asked to pay full or partial tuition in order to get one last chance at a championship.

More than money

Ignoring the obvious monetary roadblock, questions of their academic standing also complicate the seemingly easy fix of eligibility relief. 

For seniors slated to graduate in the spring of 2020, the prospect of returning to school would currently require them to enroll as a graduate student. Otherwise, the idea of allowing non-students to compete in collegiate athletics appears anathema to the basic tenets of the NCAA, but is something that other student-led petitions have begun suggesting for seniors placed in such extenuating circumstances.

An extra season of eligibility would have student-athletes put their post-graduate careers on hold for another year, but could potentially incentivize them to take out student loans to keep their athletic careers alive. 

No one wants the seniors' seasons to end like this. But with so many questions to answer, it's unclear if the NCAA will be able to work out an equitable solution come the end of March.

@fleetwilson

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com