Report: NCAA DI Council recommends all fall student-athletes retain year of eligibility

The NCAA Division I Council has made its recommendation on all fall sports athletes for the 2020-21 academic year.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel, the Division I Council is recommending that all fall sports student-athletes retain a year of eligibility, regardless of the number of competitions they participate in this year. In other words, this year could serve as an additional year of eligibility for student-athletes.

The NCAA Board of Governors must approve this recommendation for it to be implemented. They will meet on Friday.

Sources: The NCAA Division I Council decided today that fall sport student-athletes can compete in any amount of competitions this year and it will not count as a season of eligibility. This still needs to be approved by NCAA Board of Governors on Friday.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 19, 2020

Last week, the NCAA announced that it was postponing all fall sports championships, planning to move those to the spring. However, individual teams or conferences could still compete in the fall, but would not be eligible for a national championship.

That rule does not apply to FBS football, as the NCAA does not control that championship.

However, the NCAA’s decision would impact student-athletes in every sport that is played in the fall — even if competition starts back up in the spring.