D1 Council Votes To Give Additional Year Of Eligibility To Winter Athletes

The NCAA D1 Council has voted to give winter athletes an additional year of eligibility.

Oct 13, 2020 by Kyle Bratke

D1 Council Votes To Give Additional Year Of Eligibility To Winter Athletes

According to prominent college basketball analyst, Jeff Goodman, the NCAA D1 Council has voted to give winter athletes an additional year of eligibility.

D-1 Council has voted in favor of giving additional year of eligibility to winter athletes, source told @Stadium. Won’t be official until close of tomorrow’s meeting since it could still be brought back for reconsideration.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 13, 2020

It's highly unlikely that it will be brought back for reconsideration tomorrow given the fact that spring athletes received an additional year of eligibility back in March and fall sports received an extra of eligibility in August.

So how exactly will it work? I'm glad you asked. Let's use Spencer Lee as an example. Lee will be entering his senior season at Iowa. With this rule in place, Lee can wrestle this year for the Hawkeyes, it will not count as a year of eligibility used, and he can return for the 2021-22 season as a senior again. This rule allows athletes to compete without the possibility of having their season cut short due to COVID-19 and losing that year of eligibility.

Now, the other question you might have is what happens with scholarships? Well, I've got the answer. Seniors who use their additional year of eligibility, like Lee potentially, would not count towards each school's allotted 9.9 scholarships. However, the school can decide not to honor that scholarship if they choose and are cash strapped thanks to the pandemic. Expect some tough conversations next March after the NCAA Championships and the transfer portal to be hopping.

All in all, this is great news for college wrestlers and puts some wrestlers back on track to chase history. Those like the aforementioned Lee who is aiming to become the fifth wrestler to win four NCAA titles. It could also allow us to see some record-breaking performances. For example, Yianni Diakomihalis and Mekhi Lewis could now become five-time NCAA champions. As the boys discussed on FRL last week, this rule could lead to a lot of interesting situations around the county.