The Hope women's basketball team had nine seniors last year, when they finished No. 1 in the country after a shortened season. Olivia Voskuil was one of the handful who came back for an extra season. Hope athletics file photo

By Ryan Scott
D3sports.com

The “blanket waiver” is a complicated gift. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. When the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all student athletes due to the missed COVID season, they left the most difficult part to parents, athletes, coaches, and institutions: figuring out how that year could be used. What’s more difficult is that this has been an ongoing process from the NCAA, which has issued eligibility and requirement changes throughout the past 18 months.

“I didn’t make my decision until well after senior night,” says Hope All-American Olivia Voskuil, who is back for an unexpected fifth season, “So I went through senior night and I guess I’ll do it again. I did save one class I needed for graduation, which would allow me to come back, if I wanted, or I could take it in May or over the summer if I decided not to.”

That “one class” comes up often in stories of COVID seniors, because, under normal circumstances, one class can be a key to academic flexibility for student athletes with remaining eligibility. Typically the NCAA requires every athlete to be a full-time student, defined as 12 credit hours for undergraduates or nine for grad students. However, if a student athlete is completing requirements for a degree, they are allowed to be a part-time student in that final semester, taking as little as one class.

Voskuil saved one class so she wouldn’t graduate. Under normal NCAA rules, she could have added a minor or padded her fall semester schedule to get to 12 credits, then taken that one remaining class in the spring to stay eligible. Other students skip fall semester altogether and take the final class in the spring when basketball’s most important games take place.

Yes, Voskuil could also have graduated on time and then enrolled in a graduate program at Hope to use her final year, but Hope’s offerings are limited and Voskuil had already been accepted to an engineering program at Michigan, something she could defer for a year, but would definitely not turn down.

A masters in data analytics might well serve Jordan Armstrong well on or off the court. Yeshiva athletics photo

This is where schools with extensive graduate offerings have really benefited from the blanket waiver. Big state schools make it easy for athletes to find a course of study that fits their academic or life plans and allows them to stay with their teams. Other students, who were already planning to do graduate work at Division III schools, have been able to join the basketball team at their new school.

Jordan Armstrong is making the already sizable Yeshiva front line even bigger at 6-8, having graduated from Oberlin and choosing to join the Maccabees while working on a masters in data analytics. Former Middlebury teammates Tommy Eastman and Griffin Kornaker will face each other twice this season as members of the Brandeis and Case Western Reserve teams, respectively. UAA play will be littered with student athletes who were able to pair their academic and athletic goals together one more season, some in the same place and others in a new location.

Despite the options available, though, not every student athlete will be able to take advantage of a fifth year. When it became pretty clear last season was in jeopardy, most of Swarthmore’s players decided to take the year off entirely. Swarthmore doesn’t really have options for anything more than four years and the players wanted to maximize their time on the court and in the classroom.

Vinny DeAngelo used the time off to get his Pennsylvania realtor license, “just to keep learning and to stay busy,” while teammate Michael Caprise demonstrates why a grad transfer isn’t always the right fit. “I’m planning to go to medical school,” he says. “That’s not something you can do and play basketball.”

It’s certainly not advisable, although there may be a basketball-playing med student out there somewhere across Division III. We’ve definitely got some intricately balanced schedules happening. Armstrong’s Yeshiva teammate, Gabe Leifer, was already a grad student last season. This year, in addition to basketball, school, and married life, he’s added a full-time job to the mix.

Vinny DeAngelo knows a lot about location, location, location. Swarthmore athletics photo

The COVID switch to remote work is making the situation a bit easier for some of these full-time employee basketball players, but it doesn’t add any time to the day. Luckily Yeshiva practice is already at 6:30 a.m., to accommodate the day job of coach Eliot Steinmetz, so Leifer is free to work on real estate taxes the rest of the day.

“My employer has been very accommodating,” says Leifer. “I would not have come back if they were not on board. I also would not have come back if our goal was just a conference championship. I’ve won those before, but we have our sights set higher and I want to be a part of that.”

There’s a cliché that championship contenders need to be focused on the goal every minute, but Leifer is living it out. “I don’t ever get a lunch break,” he says, “and sometimes I have to go back to work late at night, but most of our games are on weekends, and during the week, most people find eight hours of free time to do something. I’m just spending my free time on basketball.”

Similar to Yeshiva, Oglethorpe is practicing at 6 p.m. every day, because, like Leifer, their point guard, Lane Foster, has to be at work from 9-5. His senior year internship turned into a job offer as a tax accounting associate and it was too good to pass up. Coach Philip Ponder says, “From the moment we lost the conference championship last year, I told Lane he was my number one recruit.”

Foster is working on a business analyst certificate, taking advantage of a late change in requirements by the NCAA that’s allowed unusual flexibility for some athletes. It wasn’t announced until July, but it turns out no one needed to save the “one class” for 2021-22.

Instead of requiring graduate work, student athletes who had already graduated could add second bachelors degrees, certificate programs, or even additional minors, as long as they were pursuing a specific program that furthers “a professional or career goal.” Additionally, the NCAA dropped the enrollment requirements to six credit hours per term, creating even more time to work.

Foster’s certificate program allows him to play as a graduate of Oglethorpe in a way that wouldn’t have been possible last year. He says, “You love the opportunity to boost the resume and work has given me the flexibility to be part of something great here this year.” In addition to Foster, the Stormy Petrels return Dimetri Chambers, an All-SAA performer, and are looking to make waves in March.

Lane Foster  Oglethorpe athletics photo

With her grad school deferment, Voskuil was able to enter an honors program, newly offered by Hope, which requires her to pick up an additional minor and participate in a 15 hour per week internship. “It’s sort of halfway between college and real life,” she says, “It’s definitely harder than I expected, but there’s no way I could’ve watched games this season knowing I could’ve been out there and not been.”

That’s the reality for many players and the reason the NCAA is being uncharacteristically lenient in its requirements. These student athletes worked so hard for so long to have opportunities to succeed that were taken from them by a pandemic. Not everyone will be able to continue their career for an extra year, but, for those who can, every opportunity is available.

Jason Ellis, an All-American at Marietta, has gotten perhaps the best use out of these new requirements. He saved his “one class,” which he’s finishing this fall, and will then enroll in two classes he needs for a second degree in the spring, allowing him to remain eligible, advance his academic opportunities, and have room for the multiple jobs he’s working to stay busy, pay the bills, and save money.

“I’m really glad the NCAA came through with this [change],” says Ellis. “Otherwise, I probably would have sat out fall semester and come back to take that last class in the spring. I’m glad to get a full year.”

But while the NCAA blanket waiver covers players in all four classes who were enrolled in 2020-21, it’s unclear if these lower requirements for graduates in 2021-22 will be extended through 2025, when the blanket waiver ends.

Will the players in the next three classes receive the same academic flexibility as this year’s group or does the NCAA expect those players, with more time, to adjust their plans to conform to traditional rules? Further, what potential changes might arise from the new NCAA Constitution, expected to be approved in January?

There are a lot of questions with no answers and, if the timeline of release is any indication, the NCAA has struggled to make ruling in time for every student to make their academic decisions. The blanket waiver is indeed a gift with strings attached, but it’s a gift nonetheless, and one we should be thankful for.

Let’s celebrate the players who’ve been able to make it work this season and the extremely high level of basketball we’re seeing with all of the extra experience on the floor. Whether this is a one-year blip or a four-year trend, more people playing more basketball is only good for those of us who love it.