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NCAA grants D-I winter athletes additional year of eligibility

15 October 2020
Dan Ackermann

In an attempt to provide as much flexibility as possible amid a time of great uncertainty, the NCAA has granted all D-I winter athletes an additional year of eligibility — something that was already granted to all fall and spring athletes.

What they're saying: Grace Calhoun, who chairs the NCAA's D-I council and is the athletic director at Penn, said the council didn't want athletes choosing to redshirt because of fears that their seasons might be cut short or negatively impacted by the pandemic.

  • "We felt it was important to make this decision now so student-athletes had the peace of mind to go into this season and compete," she told ESPN.
  • "They know they can regain that eligibility and have their clock automatically extended, so they're not taking that chance on the front end if they choose to compete."

The other side: UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma doesn't like the rule and thinks a lot of his fellow coaches — particularly those with seniors — would agree.

  • "If you lose your season, I can see that," said Auriemma. "But how are you going to let somebody play a whole season and then give them another year?"
  • "I think you're going to have a lot of coaches that are going to go, 'You're putting me in a tough spot here.' Because now you're going to have some seniors go, 'Hey, I want to stay.' And then you've got a coach going ... 'I wasn't planning on you staying.' Now what are you going to do — turn the kid out?"

The big picture: Council members also voted to allow all football programs to compete in bowls this season (usually need a .500 record), while pushing forward with two more rule changes that could transform college sports long-term:

  • One-time transfer: The council will propose giving all athletes a one-time transfer, granting them immediate eligibility at their new school. Most sports already have this, but now football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and men's hockey will join them if the proposal is approved in January.
  • NIL rules: The council will also propose new rules on how athletes can make money from their name, image and likeness.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.