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Joined: 11/07/1999 Posts: 24020
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Since it's a slow news day, here's a story on softball roster issues....


...if the NCAA grants an extra year of eligibility.

The NCAA has previously said that "eligibility relief is appropriate" for spring sports, and then followed up on Friday to say that they would issue a ruling on March 30 as to whether the extra year would apply to just seniors or the entire roster.

If the ruling applies to only seniors, then it's not a huge short-term issue for VT as Olivia Lattin is the only senior on the roster. However, IF (and it's a BIG "if") the NCAA grants an extra year of eligibility to all players in spring sports, then it gets really complicated down the road.

The linked article points out some of the the issues that coaches could be facing, both next year and in the future.

Alabama Softball Coach Patrick Murphy says all 7 of his seniors want to return if the NCAA grants them an extra year of eligibility: "This year we had a roster of 20. If everybody comes back it would be a roster of 25. That would be the largest roster we have ever had. The SEC has a travel roster of 22 and the NCAA has a travel roster of 20 for regionals and postseason. There would be a lot of issues with that.

“That roster size would increase. I’d have 11 in that freshman class. There has to be some roster management. I’d hate to graduate all 11 in one year, especially if they’re all big contributors. That would be a hell of a loss the next year. That’s why I don’t like to have two pitchers in the same class because if they are really good you lose two studs right away. There is a lot to think about for sure.”

Based on the Hokies current roster on HokiesSports, the VT breakdown by class (and starts this season) is as follows:

1 Senior (22 starts this season)
7 Juniors (70 starts)
6 Sophomores (124 starts)
10 Freshmen (34 starts)
A signing class of 6

So if the NCAA granted an extra year to everyone, then the Hokies would have a "freshman class" of 16 next year and a total roster of 30 players (if Lattin returned). That would be even more the following year since we wold only have one senior.

And...just as importantly, none of this takes into account the dollars that would be needed to pay for the additional scholarships. AND....this post is just referencing softball. There would be similar issues in the other spring sports.

It's a complicated issue fro sure.



Link: Story on Alabama softball


Posted: 03/26/2020 at 12:28PM



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