TCU’s reaction to NCAA’s plan to grant extra year of eligibility to spring athletes
The NCAA plans to grant spring sport athletes another year of eligibility.
A day after canceling all of its spring championships, as well as a number of winter sports events including March Madness, citing the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA announced the swift and unprecedented decision.
“Details of eligibility relief will be finalized at a later date,” the NCAA said in a statement Friday. “Additional issues with NCAA rules must be addressed, and appropriate governance bodies will work through those in the coming days and weeks.”
TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle feels the NCAA is making the right decision. As far as all the hurdles that come with it, Schlossnagle said nobody is better at roster management or handling these types of situations than college coaches.
“We’ll work our way through it,” he said. “We have an incoming class and guys who may or may not want to come back. We’ll figure out what scholarship limits we have, what roster limits we have, how the draft affects it … we’ll make it work.”
The NCAA is looking at extending eligibility relief to the winter sport athletes, too. TCU, for instance, had six seniors on the 22-7 women’s basketball team that didn’t get to experience March Madness despite being a lock for an at-large bid. It would’ve been the Horned Frogs first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2010.
TCU coach Raegan Pebley feels it would be a great situation if senior basketball players had the option to play one more year.
“When you look at macro decision, it’d be great that they have the option to be able to come back,” Pebley said. “I know there’s so many micro decisions underneath that have to be considered.
“But it is an unprecedented situation so it may require an unprecedented response. There’s a lot to go into making that decision.
“We’ll know a lot more in four to six weeks when the dust all settles. I am sure clearer heads will prevail and great decisions will be made.”
TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon felt it made sense to extend the additional year of eligibility to spring sport athletes, although expressed hesitation in giving it to winter sports.
After all, as devastating as it is for players to miss out on the March Madness experience, the entire regular seasons were played.
“I don’t know if I have a grasp of that one yet,” Dixon said. “That one would have significant consequences for the returning players and the incoming ones as well.”
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said the school would be “ready for whatever is coming” as far as possibly paying for additional scholarships and how it’ll handle student athletes who take advantage of competing an additional year.
