After the NCAA announced on Thursday its decision to cancel the 2020 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, several coaches around the sport began proposing the idea to grant seniors a one-time exemption to return to school for one more season.
The proposal came to fruition following the drastic circumstances that led to the cancellation of several athletic events. In addition to the basketball tournaments, the NCAA also canceled all remaining winter and spring championships due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Health officials have warned against events with greater than 250 people in some areas and have recommended that such activities be canceled or postponed to help slow the spread of the virus.
UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma has been at the forefront of the proposal and believes senior players should be granted an extra year of eligibility after losing the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning and agreed with that idea and believes the NCAA has the authority to grant such an exception.
“The NCAA, as we have found in the past, can do anything that they want to do,” Boeheim said. “We’re talking about student-athletes. Are we going to do what’s right for them? … There is a precedent for it. I don’t see why not. In basketball, you may have difficulty recreating that but I don’t see why you couldn’t do that; there is some precedent for that.”
While basketball players have played for most of the season, with the exception of some conference tournaments, other sports, such as baseball, softball and lacrosse, were canceled early in the season.
On Friday, clarity was offered to those student-athletes.
According to Jeff Goodman of The Athletic, the NCAA has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports.
The NCAA will soon discuss the winter sports athletes.
The NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports.
Committee will also discuss issues for winter sport student-athletes.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2020
Boeheim expressed his feelings for those spring student-athletes.
“I look at our men’s lacrosse team, who are No. 1 in the country,” Boeheim said. “Our women’s is No. 4. Cornell, right down the road, is No. 2. Those players worked their tales off and it’s all gone. Maybe we’ll look back and [canceling games] is 100% the right thing to do; I hope it is. You have to feel for those kids who have put themselves in that position.”
As each sports entity has relayed, the canceling and postponing of games was disappointing but all agree that it was the right decision amid the growing concerns of the coronavirus.
While there is much uncertainty worldwide, sports will continue to take a secondary role until the spread of the virus is slowed and under control.
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