WBB Impacts: NCAA extra season of eligibility to winter sport athletes

ISUnorth

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Did not see this discussed here as it pertains to WBB or at least not in a specific thread on it. I think the 2021 transfer portal might be crazy busy with senior graduates that ordinarily would be graduated and out of eligibility. Throw in the probability of the one time immediate eligibility transfer for all of the other classes and it is going to be like a huge free agency year. The immediate eligibility option is going to change the recruiting and coaching culture but with the seniors thrown in it's going to be really huge for 2020 IMHO and for the next four years or so.

I can think of a few Minnesota gals who will graduate 2021 and ordinarily would move on but now would have an opportunity to attend a year of grad school if they want. Depending on the job market and their major it might be a good option. I could see the return home to Minnesota to play a season might be attractive. If you really want to get a masters most peeps would advise you to not do that at your undergrad school. Not always, of course, but it's a good rule of thumb. A lot of the grads won't have an interest in more school or playing more but enough will to make it interesting for sure.
 

Roster and scholarship limits will be a challenge. I think they are going to offer a temp increase above 15 but that will still be somewhat difficult in a time where departments are cutting costs. I think more schools than not don't even max out at 15 now. My examples are Gophers at 14 and Iowa State down to 11 after one of their transfers decided to quit basketball all together. I think 13, like the Iowa Hawkeyes, might be the median number currently for Div 1 P5 rosters.
 


The announcement from the NCAA D1 Council:

Winter sport student-athletes who compete during 2020-21 in Division I will receive both an additional season of competition and an additional year in which to complete it, the Division I Council decided. The same flexibility was provided to student-athletes after the spring season was canceled in 2020 and the fall season was seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council met by videoconference Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The pandemic will continue to impact winter sport seasons in ways we can’t predict. Council members opted to provide for winter sport student-athletes the same flexibility given spring and fall sports previously,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “The actions today ensure the continuation of local decision-making in the best interest of each institution and its student-athletes.”
 


Noted by Raoul: Loyola sees an urgency to apply for a transfer waiver since it gets you this season in addition to next season if you desire.


“My discussions with Bre were centered around ‘if you’re not going to play a full season … then it’s not worth it,’” Achter said of their conversations prior to the NCAA’s announcement on eligibility. “You might as well get everything you can out of your last year in college.”

But with the new NCAA ruling, there’s now a sense of urgency to apply for the waiver. If it gets approved, Hampton-Bey would have the opportunity to play two seasons for the Ramblers if she also chooses to accept the extra eligibility granted to all winter sport student-athletes.

“We are applying for an NCAA waiver,” Achter said. “We’re trying our best to get Bre a waiver to get her immediately eligible because then we get her for two years essentially. We’re going to try, but as of right now she’s still redshirting.”

While the NCAA’s decision could have large implications for Loyola’s women’s basketball team, Loyola men’s basketball head coach Porter Moser is trying to limit the impact it has on his squad.
 

Although the NCAA is allowing an extra season (blanket year), the University of Minnesota is NOT allowing an expanded roster of over 15 for the women's basketball team due to financial reasons.
 


Graham Hays has more on this:
ESPN spoke with more than a dozen coaches and players to get a sense of how people are beginning to process the change and how it might impact programs across the country and the 2021 WNBA draft.
 

What does the roster count look like with the 4 kids coming in; 3 in 2021? and so far 2 in 2022?
how many scholarships does the women have left..
 

Another thing to consider is that on the women’s side, many young ladies complete their bachelors in their first three seasons, and use their fourth season as a graduate year already. If they’ve already started their masters at a school, they are less likely to transfer for that fifth year to finish it.
 

What does the roster count look like with the 4 kids coming in; 3 in 2021? and so far 2 in 2022?
how many scholarships does the women have left..
This page is tracking it, but it does not have Nia Holloway as there are already 15 players listed her freshman season. I am wondering if Tomoncova will actually be here for five years. She is listed as a RS SO, but maybe she won't use the final year. Also, it does not sound like they applied for a waiver for Kayla Mershon to play right away this season. https://wbbblog.com/minnesota-womens-basketball-recruiting/
 



so if Mershon plays this year, the gophers are at 15 now with Nia as of 2022 season? Not sure how that impacts the offers out there.
 

so if Mershon plays this year, the gophers are at 15 now with Nia as of 2022 season? Not sure how that impacts the offers out there.
Correct. If Mershon plays this year that would open up a spot for the class of 2022, which is needed for Nia at this point. It will be interesting to see how this works out. As pointed out in the Class of 22 recruiting thread, Brianna McDaniel from Chicago has MN in her top 15. I would imagine the Gophers would love to have her, or Mara Braun or Amaya Battle or another one of the other recruits if they could. It is a tricky balance. I think some schools have started looking at having bigger rosters to account for transfers out of the program. But if you have a larger roster and players stay, it limits your options for younger players.
 





Wow! I don’t like that news.

why not? she didn't get much playing time last year and not likely to get much this year.. plus with the talent coming in the next 2 years, really didn't see much room for her.. she can go somewhere else that she can get PT.. plus she wasn't big ten ready at all.
 




Sometimes Junior College is a place to start learning study habits. Woodward went to two JCs which seems unusual to me. Maybe it was academic issues. Just a thought...
 




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