After COVID-19, what Gamecocks’ Tanner said about granting athletes more eligibility
The NCAA floated the rough outline of a plan, albeit without specifics.
Senior college athletes whose spring seasons were upended by coronavirus (COVID-19) cancellations will get another year of eligibility. How this works out with scholarships, roster limits and possible transfers is uncertain.
But South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner is on board, not only with the spring athletes getting another year but perhaps those from winter sports who saw their pursuit of championships cut short last week.
He said he hasn’t gotten far in those discussions. On Friday he pondered a few of the logistics.
“We’ve had some (discussions) offline about the winter and the spring and those kind of things, but it’s been offline conversation with some of my colleagues,” Tanner said. “I was glad to see the NCAA take the step already with the spring sports, but that has to be defined, too. It’s not as easy as saying they’ll be granted another year of eligibility. There’s incoming recruits and so forth, sixth-year people, if you will. The winter sports, I would have been OK if in some capacity that would have been included as well.
“Time will tell.”
All told, South Carolina has 45 spring seniors, including four from baseball, eight from equestrian, seven from beach volleyball, 14 from both track and field, and four from softball.
Tanner was asked if some games were played later in the spring, should that impact players and their ability go gain an extra season? There are so many steps, including the country getting control of the coronavirus situation, between now and even playing such games, he said.
But his main point was to give players more chances to play, if possible.
“I’m student-athlete-centric,” Tanner said. “So I’m all about making decisions to benefits the student-athletes.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "After COVID-19, what Gamecocks’ Tanner said about granting athletes more eligibility."
