TCU AD applauds decision by NCAA to freeze eligibility for fall athletes
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati believes the NCAA got it right on Friday afternoon.
The board of governors approved a plan that will allow fall sports athletes to freeze their eligibility this season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I applaud the decisions that came down today,” Donati said. “Given all the uncertainty and the circumstances it’s the appropriate thing to do for our student-athletes.”
With the decision, schools will be allowed to welcome seniors back for an additional season without counting against roster and scholarship limits. That’s similar to how the NCAA handled spring sports athletes when it canceled spring championships in March.
However, schools also have the option to not offer scholarships to returning seniors. TCU welcomed its spring sport athletes back, including every senior on the baseball team. It’s unclear if that will be a uniform policy for the fall athletes who may want to return.
The waiver applies to every athlete who participates in fall sports, including football players in the Big 12, ACC and SEC who are preparing for seasons this fall.
TCU football coach Gary Patterson endorsed the NCAA freezing eligibility for players when asked about it on Thursday night. From a football standpoint, Patterson said, it would allow teams the ability to use their entire roster rather than trying to manage players for redshirt seasons.
Patterson described a situation where a player could be quarantined for two weeks after being in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. If the backup at that position is a player a program hoped to redshirt, it would be forced to make a decision on how to proceed.
With the eligibility waiver, it lessens that roster management burden.
“It will help us in the health department as far as the team is concerned,” said Patterson, who is serving as the president of the American Football Coaches Association this year. “You can play your whole team and it won’t count against you.”
It’s unclear if the NCAA’s action will affect the Big 12’s decision to play fall sports such as volleyball and soccer. As of now, those sports are scheduled to play conference-only games and compete for a conference championship. The NCAA has canceled those fall sports championships.
The NCAA does not oversee big-time college football with the conferences running the bowl games and College Football Playoff.
TCU and most Big 12 schools are scheduled to open the football season with non-conference home games on Sept. 12. Conference play would begin two weeks later on Sept. 26.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 4:13 PM.
