The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced informal discussions of granting players five seasons of eligibility, which could affect all UNC Asheville athletes and those in the recruitment process.
“It could create new opportunities for some people, and that’s great. It could take away opportunities from some people, like high schoolers. At the end of the day, they are trying to figure out if this makes sense or not,” said Stephen Dolan, associate commissioner of compliance and student services for the Big South Conference.
The conversations come as the COVID-19 pandemic blanket waiver is in effect, with student-athletes from the 2020-21 academic year using an additional fifth year of eligibility in 2025, granted by the NCAA.
Current NCAA eligibility rules allow student-athletes five years to play four seasons, with athletes only able to apply for a fifth season using a redshirt year, which means they didn’t compete but have retained the eligibility to use in the future.
According to Dolan, changing the rules to enable student-athletes to play in five back-to-back seasons would directly affect schools such as UNC Asheville.
“The freshman class every year could be smaller, meaning fewer opportunities for high school students and potentially enrollment sizes of campuses could be impacted,” Dolan said. “Now you are bringing in fewer student-athletes each year, and a lot of schools in a league like ours rely on athletes for enrollment.”
Dolan said the rule change could be positive for student-athletes considering further education after graduating from UNC Asheville.
“If they have graduated in four years, which most student-athletes do, it would allow more opportunity for master’s programs and pursuing higher education to advance themselves in a way academically that they wouldn’t have had access to,” Dolan said.
According to a 2019 NCAA research study on the academic outcomes of D1 student-athletes, 81% of postgraduates continue their eligibility at their undergraduate institution, with 19% transferring to a graduate school elsewhere.
“Students may transfer for graduate school to use their remaining eligibility,” said Erin Punter-Spence, assistant athletic director for compliance at UNC Asheville. “In the future, patterns will emerge, but at this time, it is not fair to make assumptions.”
While the rule change could allow student-athletes to look ahead academically, it may present difficulties for those transitioning from high school to college sports.
“When you’re talking about the fifth-year kid right now, that puts a barrier on the high school kids, because everybody wants an experienced kid,” said Ronald Woodard, assistant coach for women’s basketball at UNC Asheville. “The game is so fast and growing, and winning is so much of a demand that everybody is looking for the quick fix.”
According to Elle Thigpen, president of the student-athlete advisory council, extending eligibility would provide opportunities for international student-athletes.
“A lot of our athletes here are international students, and getting a job in the U.S. is extremely difficult for them. Having one more year to compete would give them more chances to find and build connections, as well as the opportunity to start out in a Masters program,” Thigpen said. “I think it only shows positive implications for international students.”
These eligibility conversations follow December’s federal court case granting Diego Pavia, a Vanderbilt quarterback, a preliminary injunction against the NCAA to use an extra year of eligibility in the 2025 season.
“It’s something that we’re talking about more now, and I think that is partially because of some of the things that have been happening in the courts,” Dolan said.
