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NCAA DI Council releases recommendations for eligibility protection during COVID-19 pandemic

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The NCAA continues to be faced with difficult situations as the association, conferences and colleges across the country attempt to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the biggest questions about this year regards athlete eligibility. What happens if a student-athlete opts out of a season? What if the season is cut short due to medical reasons? What if an entire season is canceled?

So many questions.

Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Council issued its recommendations for the Division I Board of Directors. The Council recommends that if a player doesn’t appear in at least half of his or her games due to COVID-19, they should get a 1-year extension of their eligibility:

“In this time of uncertainty, the Council members are working to create additional flexibility for college athletes whose seasons have been negatively impacted by the pandemic,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “Every day things are changing in college sport, and we want to be as responsive as possible, with the best information, to help student-athletes and their families make important decisions for their future. The Council worked hard today and will seek membership input before we make final recommendations to the board next week.”

The final vote will be held next week. It seems like a no-brainer decision, but we’ll see what happens.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB