Miami Hurricanes spring teams could be helped by extended senior eligibility

The NCAA is considering a proposal for seniors that play spring sports to receive an extra year of eligibility after all the championships were canceled due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus outbreak. The decision could help a few Miami Hurricanes teams.

According to a tweet on Friday afternoon by Jeff Goodman of Stadium, the NCAA is considering a proposal to allow seniors in spring sports in 2020 to receive an extra year of eligibility during the 2020-21 school year. Several Miami Hurricanes teams could benefit from the plan. Goodman tweeted below about the possibility.

“The NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports. Committee will also discuss issues for winter sport student-athletes.” Several Miami Hurricanes teams would be affected by the decision.

Baseball, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s golf and track and field would all receive a boost for the Miami Hurricanes. The possibility remains for seniors in some winter sports, particularly basketball to be granted an extra year of eligibility. The Miami men’s and women’s basketball teams each lost in the ACC Tournament.

If postseason basketball tournaments had not been canceled the likelihood is that neither the Men or Women’s Miami Hurricanes basketball teams would have qualified for postseason play. The Men finished the season 15-16 following their loss to Clemson at the ACC Tournament on Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The women finished their season with a nearly identical 15-15 record and a matching loss to Clemson in the ACC Tournament. The biggest question for them would be if senior star Beatrice Mompremier would elect to return for another season after missing half of this one with injuries.

Mompremier is expected to be a first-round pick in the WNBA draft. The Miami Men’s basketball team could bring back seniors Dejan Vasiljevic and Keith Stone. No decision has been made yet with the winter sports. The biggest names that would be affected in spring sports affect baseball and women’s tennis.

With another year would the Miami juniors in baseball elect to forego the draft for their senior seasons to return? The biggest name in baseball that would be affected is the ace of the Miami pitching staff Brian VanBelle who is a fifth-year senior. Van Belle was off to an exceptional start to the 2020 baseball season.

The draft stock for Van Belle is bullish with the NASDAQ and Dow Jones in a bearish freefall. Van Belle was 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA in 26.1 innings with16 hits allowed, three runs, two earned, four walks and 38 strikeouts.

Miami Hurricanes

The likelihood is that VanBelle will begin his professional baseball career. Senior reserve outfielder Chad Crosbie and relief pitcher Tyler Keysor would be far more likely to return in 2021. Keysor could have a key role on the pitching staff with numerous departures. The other big-name Miami Hurricanes athlete comes from tennis.

Estela Perez-Somarriba was the 2019 NCAA Women’s Champion. Would the Spanish native put off a professional career on the Women’s Tennis Association to defend her 2019 national championship? Like Mompremier and Van Belle, it would be difficult to imagine her making that decision.

Perez-Somarriba held her own against American teenager Coco Gauff earlier this year in a 6-3, 6-3 exhibition loss in Delray Beach. Although it would be tough for an NCAA Champion to claim a moral victory it shows that she can play with one of the future stars of the WTA. There will be a lot to work out with additional scholarships.

How will schools that did not have a lot of seniors in 2020 be affected? Would those schools be able to match the scholarships grated the seniors for their competitors? Everything is in the early stages involving any decisions that the NCAA makes involving giving seniors the extra year. There are a lot of logistics to work out.