NCAA Announces Fall Sports Won’t Count toward Athletes’ Eligibility

There are 21 players listed as seniors on Oklahoma State’s 2020 football roster, but no matter how this year goes, that group will have a chance to return in 2021.

On Friday, the NCAA announced that all fall sport athletes will “receive both an additional year of eligibility and an additional year in which to complete it.” The decision came after the Division I board of directors met via video conference.

Additionally, the financial aid of fall sport senior student-athletes who take advantage of the additional year of eligibility and extended clock will not count against team limits in 2021-22.

The phrasing of “all fall sport student-athletes” in the NCAA’s release suggests this isn’t only for seniors, though. Oklahoma State fans could get an extra year of Spencer Sanders, Trace Ford and Kolby Harvell-Peel, given none make an early jump to the NFL.

The NCAA also announced that it is working toward moving fall championships back to the spring. This piggybacks off an interview the NCAA released with Mark Emmert last week. That doesn’t include FBS football, but it will deal with soccer and cross-country seasons at Oklahoma State.

The board also announced these protections for student-athletes:

• Schools are prohibited from requiring student-athletes to waive legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of athletics participation.
• Schools are prohibited from canceling or reducing athletics scholarships if a college athlete in any sport opts not to participate due to COVID-19.
• Student-athletes who do not enroll full time during the 2020 fall term have flexibility in the progress-toward-degree requirements that must be met for eligibility in future terms.
• Schools are required to:
  • Review current insurance coverage for all student-athletes who are competing this fall.
  • Inform student-athletes about the risk classification of their sport as outlined in the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport document.
  • Inform student-athletes how the mandates in the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport document are being met at their campus.