Hi all,
My D was thinking doing a year/semester abroad junior year, so she will have an extra year of eligibility (which I think it is 4 years of playing within 5 years?). I have seen some universities with grad student players. Does anyone know how this works for grad schools? Of course, not sure even if she will go to grad school or even be playing after this season. Thanks!
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Yes, she could do that (assuming it’s a NCAA sport) but would need to find a grad school and coach/team that take her (assuming it’s not her current school).
For the past few years there have been many players in the system because many rising college seniors and those 3 to 4 years older had an extra year (some two extra years) of eligibility due to covid.
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There are a lot of athletes who redshirt for a year too so have the extra year of eligibility (or get hurt so have to take a year off). It is not unusual at all. Also, some players finish their undergrad degrees early so even though they’ve played fr, so, jr years, they graduate so can play at another school for their 4th year. Russell Wilson did that.
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Yeah, it was the only year Wisconsin had an outside hope of a national championship (sorry … disillusioned Wisconsin alum here…).
She can work with her current coach and compliance office on this. Typically an athlete in her situation would enter the transfer portal as a grad transfer after junior year. That way coaches can talk to her. Her current coach can help her network.
As far as grad admissions, she’d be on her own for any particular grad program. But if the goal is simply to play it isn’t hard to find a grad program at most schools where admission is not too hard (Ivies aren’t an option obviously).
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My D’s school has always recruited quite a few grad school athletes in a few specific sports, but with all the athletes having extra eligibility due to covid there seems to be a lot of it right now. She just graduated and I am seeing a lot of athletes from her class announcing where they are attending/playing next year. My D is staying at her school for a 1 year grad program and even though her program is pretty tiny, she knows of at least 3 athletes so far who are in her cohort. The good news for you daughter is I would guess most of those “covid” athletes should be out by the time she is looking.
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Do grad students enter the transfer portal? In the olden days, athletes were released upon their graduation from undergrad and could go to any school, talk to any coach and didn’t have to wait a year to play. Graduation was the golden ticket.
Yes, they enter the portal in their final year of undergrad, which allows them to talk to other coaches while still competing at their original undergrad school.
The typical pattern I see in Track and Field: athlete discusses post-grad future with current coach; if that future might be at a different school then athlete registers for portal as grad transfer; athlete/coach contact other schools/coaches; funding offers are made contingent on admission; athlete applies to grad program at selected school or mix of schools.
I have seen cases where admission is immediate because it’s rolling, or denied at one grad program but admitted at another less competitive program at the same school. Almost every school has grad programs that the coaches know will be an easy admit to be used as a sort of safety program.
Of course, there are some athletes who plan grad school separately and then contact coaches when they’re admitted and decide where they want to go.
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COVID allowed an extra year of eligibility for those enrolled when the pandemic hit and it seems there are way more graduate students playing across sports as a result.
But I think the extra covid year players should be almost over.
I do think that players learned something from the covid extension, and that more players will be taking a redshirt year and saving one year to play as a grad student. In watching NCAA lacrosse this year, the grad students were just fantastic. They are bigger, more mature in their game, and overall just superior to 18 year old freshmen. I think the coaches are going to play the 23 year old grad student over the freshman.
My daughter played 4 straight years, from when she was 17 to 21, but she was a lot bigger and better at 21 than at 17.
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Rising college seniors will be the last class to have covid extra years of eligibility. Some have one year extra, some two. Then the extra covid years will be gone, thankfully.
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Definitely agree the extra year or two makes a big difference. It’s been common in the past in Track for athletes to stay in school for five years and compete for four seasons (not in the Ivy League, of course). Adding a sixth year for those kids, plus watching the Ivy kids go on to compete for a fifth and sixth year, makes the developmental difference of that extra year or two pretty clear.
It’s tough for that first class moving through without extra Covid years, as they’ll never be the oldest. And it’s the top athletes that tend to stay.
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As a side note, I googled the captain of the New Zealand women’s soccer team after her post-game interview because I was curious about her American accent.
She played for Stanford and then Georgetown for a year as a grad student. Some time ago, yes.
And yes, she grew up in the States. Came by that accent honestly!
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My son’s freshman roommate was a 21-year-old from the EU. As a senior he’ll likely be the oldest on the team by far.
We swam against a 20 year old international PG this year. I personally don’t think that should be allowed at the HS level but he will be a 21 yo freshman.
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Many male hockey players are 21 when they are college freshmen! So now some college hockey players are 26, even 27 with their extra covid year(s).
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