NCAA says spring sports athletes can retain extra year of eligibility

The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has put sports around the globe on pause and canceled collegiate sports in the U.S., including NCAA Tournaments and championships, which abruptly ended careers for senior student-athletes.  

But the NCAA Division-I council coordination committee agreed Friday that "eligibility relief" is appropriate for all student-athletes who compete in spring sports. Details for this decision will be provided at a later date as council leadership looks to iron out potential issues with current NCAA rules in place, according to Inside the NCAA. 

The University of Arizona's spring sports are softball, baseball and beach volleyball.  

For the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats softball team, this could mean retaining key senior players such as pitchers Alyssa Denham and Mariah Lopez, Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, Reyna Carranco, Malia Martinez and star shortstop Jessie Harper, who is tied with Jenny Dalton for fifth place on the UA's career home runs list with 76. Harper is 17 home runs away from setting the record, currently held by Katiyana Mauga who hit 92. Harper would've had 32 remaining games this season to break the record. 

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This agreement does not count for either UA men's or women's basketball programs, or other winter sports. 

The NCAA also released a letter Friday morning announcing that in-person — on-campus or off-campus — recruiting will be suspended for Division I coaches and the dead period will be extended until at least April 15.

D-I women's basketball was amid the contact period, which was scheduled from March 1-April 1. Men's basketball was in a recruiting period with a quiet period scheduled for April 1 followed by a dead period from April 2-9. The full 2019-20 NCAA recruiting calendar can be found here. 

Coaches across every Division-I sport can still contact recruits through call or text.