TCU baseball players make final pitch to NCAA on extra eligibility due to coronavirus
TCU pitcher Haylen Green made an impassioned plea to the NCAA Division I Council last week as to why spring sport student-athletes should be granted extra eligibility amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Spring sports were cut short by the NCAA earlier this month, leaving a number of athletes gutted that their careers may have come to an abrupt end. TCU baseball, for instance, played only 15 games, roughly only a quarter of the season.
“Baseball seasons end, as do careers, and people move on,” Green, a senior left-hander, wrote in a lengthy post. “However, I don’t believe this can be the end. To outsiders, this is just baseball. We’re just athletes whose careers have potentially come to an end and it’s time to join the real world.
“But, to myself and seniors across the nation, this is more than just baseball. This is something we have worked for our entire lives. Many use the quote, ‘Baseball is not who I am, but what I do.’ But in times like these, it sure feels like it’s a massive part of who I am. And that part isn’t ready to say goodbye to my TCU family, not like this.”
Green and the rest of the spring sport athletes are hopeful that they will get good news Monday afternoon. That’s when the NCAA Division I Council is scheduled to vote whether to provide eligibility relief for spring sport athletes, although the vote could be pushed back to a later date.
Division II schools have already decided to go forward with eligibility relief for spring sport athletes.
Several D-I athletes have taken to social media to post messages, such as Green, in hopes that the NCAA elects to follow the D-II model. Green’s message has been shared by a number of current and former athletes with more than 550 retweets and more than 2,500 likes.
Another TCU baseball player, senior infielder Conner Shepherd, made a similar statement on Sunday.
“I believe that baseball tells you when it’s time to hang up the cleats and move on with your life,” Shepherd wrote. “However, a virus was not the way that we envisioned our seasons and possibly careers coming to an end.
“As a council, you have a decision to make. I am writing this to you today asking that you choose to value your student-athletes over the challenges that giving us another year might present.”
TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle is supportive of the sentiments shared by Green and Shepherd. He is hopeful the NCAA makes the decision on granting eligibility relief for spring sport athletes.
Schlossnagle said TCU brass, including chancellor Victor Boschini and athletic director Jeremiah Donati, are in favor of extra eligibility.
The committee is also expected to discuss extra eligibility for winter sport athletes given the cancellation of March Madness and other championship events from the season, but it seems unlikely those athletes will be granted additional years.
The costs of adding eligibility for spring sport athletes is substantial one that colleges and universities will have to shoulder, so it should not be assumed that the extra year will be granted. It may be limited to only seniors being able to obtain eligibility relief.
Schlossnagle said every senior on his team has expressed an interest in returning for the 2021 season, if given the opportunity.
“If everybody’s going to live by the mission statement and do what’s in the best interest of student-athletes, then I believe everybody deserves an extra year of competition,” Schlossnagle said. “I can live with just the seniors. Giving everybody one more year will create issues for years to come, but you still have to do the right thing. No one wants to go out like that.”
As far as the argument that non-athletes aren’t receiving similar treatment, Schlossnagle said: “Just because you can’t do it for all doesn’t mean shouldn’t do it for some. You literally have a chance to make a difference in someone’s life.”
Plus, Schlossnagle said, most spring sport student athletes have to pay for school in some fashion. Baseball has 11.7 scholarships for a 35-man roster. Men’s golf has 4.5 scholarships, while women’s golf has six for rosters that usually have 10 players. Women’s tennis is the only spring sport with a full scholarship roster.
“Just about every spring sport athlete is paying something toward tuition,” Schlossnagle said.
At the end of the day, though, that mindset may not be shared by the people ultimately making the decision.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he could make a case for “either side of it.” He mentioned the possibility that COVID-19 cases could “rebound” at some point next fall or winter, which would mean the precedent would have been set to grant extra eligibility to fall sport athletes.
“I think anyone would have empathy for young people who worked hard and didn’t get an opportunity,” Bowlsby said on a conference call last week. “I worry with the uncertainty ... if we have another [COVID-19] disruption, are we offering fall sport athletes another year? It is very expensive as a result of continuation scholarships and there’s a number of different NCAA bylaws that need to be altered in order to accommodate some of the elements of squad lists and number of scholarships and how equivalencies are broken up and those kinds of things.
“It’s got a lot of moving parts.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
