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It’s the move we’ve been expecting, but the NCAA D1 cabinet has approved a new five-year eligibility model, which will be finalized today.
The age criteria is designed to limit the return of athletes in their mid-20s to complete eligibility. It will be interesting to see how it impacts athletes who take a post-graduate year before college- if those athletes are 17, the new rule won’t dissuade them, but others might have to make a choice.
Removing redshirts is going to be especially helpful in handling injury concerns, especially in-season injuries. Schools won’t have to worry about wasting seasons of eligibility so situations like we saw with Luke Carney last Fall wouldn’t come with long-term implications. Need a young player to play, well sitting them isn’t gaining you anything so let them play.
The new rule will also address the inequality among sports when it came to redshirts. Football can play four games but others sports are one competition and done. It seems pretty straight forward, but of course there are already lawyers threatening lawsuits for the just graduated group of athletes and I’m sure we’ll hear from junior college athletes down the road as well.
Will this impact the competitive balance? It’s way too early to predict but having a team of 5th year athletes has often helped mid-major programs, but if the portal isn’t changing that seems to negate that advantage.
Gerry McNamara pointed out that his roster could all potentially return for 27-28 and now that option becomes a possibility. Was that behind the roster construction? Will it matter in the transfer era?
We’ve got lots to find out as this plays out, but at least we know that the eligibility clock becomes a lot more clearer moving forward.
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