When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country, college sports were hit terribly.
In an effort to make up for lost time, the NCAA granted an additional season of eligibility to student-athletes. For North Carolina fans, this meant that student-athletes, such as Armando Bacot, Leaky Black, RJ Davis and Alyssa Ustby, had the ability to (and chose to) play a fifth season with their respective teams.
Although much has been made of the “unfair advantage” of fifth-year student-athletes rewriting the record books (like when Davis passed Marcus Paige on the UNC basketball program’s list of all-time leading three-point scorers), it appears the NCAA is considering changes to its current eligibility rules.
The NCAA is considering granting five years of eligibility to players in all sports, according to an NCAA official.
The subject will continue to be discussed in early 2025.
– Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 3, 2025
Expected to be discussed early in the new year, the NCAA is considering granting five years of eligibility to players in all sporting events moving forward. This would mean that five-year student-athletes would now become the “norm” in college sports.
While this idea is interesting, it leaves a lot of questions for certain sports. The transfer portal, which is considered a “mess” at present, adds layers to this, as it will allow for even more movement.
Case in point: Former UNC football player Tony Grimes is set to play for his fourth school in five years this fall.
In the case of men’s basketball, one-and-done is already a rarity among college athletes. Does this change result in a rule change (perhaps we’ll see high school athletes being able to declare for the draft immediately?) or maybe it’s time for the NCAA to treat men’s basketball the same as other sports by requiring student-athletes to stay a specific length of time in college (ex: three seasons).
Also, how would this affect redshirts?
While the idea of granting a fifth year of eligibility seems solid at first glance, many levels will accept it once discussions begin.
After seeing the impact of the fifth year of eligibility following COVID-19 on the sport, granting an additional year of eligibility does not seem like a good idea.
However, I think this could open up discussions on other related topics that would definitely be worth refining.
