Summer is officially here, and college sports are over and done with. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything happening. First, some big news that could impact WVU and all other NCAA schools: the NCAA voted to revise eligibility rules. They decided to simplify things, and have a straightforward five years to play up to five seasons. This means redshirting is no longer an issue. If a freshman is talented, coaches don’t have to decide whether to play them and potentially burn a year of eligibility. Or if a player gets hurt, coaches no longer have to decide whether to go for a medical redshirt. It also puts an end to some — shall we say – questionable medical redshirts, where a player’s injury isn’t really enough to garner a redshirt in the spirit of the old rule, but coaches and/or the players decide to try to get an extra year.
Another key aspect of this rule is there is also an age limit. It is not uncommon these days to see kids in middle school (or younger) “redshirt” a grade so that they are at least a year older than their typical classmates in order to try to gain an athletic advantage because they an extra year of maturity. (There are non-athletic reason this can happen, but it happens quite often for athletic reasons). If that happens now, the 20 year old freshman will not be able to stick around for five years of eligibility in college. This also can impact international students who may be older than an equivalent American student.
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