Move on, says Barry Alvarez to Wisconsin's spring-sport student-athletes. Graduate and leave, he says, because the NCAA overreacted in extending eligibility for spring student-athletes affected by coronavirus cancellations.
On March 30, the NCAA Division I Council voted in favor of allowing schools to provide an additional season of competition for spring student-athletes. In doing so, the council also adjusted financial aid rules to increase scholarships and will allow schools to use the NCAA's Student Assistance Fund to help pay for scholarships.
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Nah, said Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin's longtime athletics director, this week.
“What we tried to do was encourage our seniors to go ahead and, if you’re going to graduate, graduate and move on with your life,” Alvarez said Wednesday on his monthly radio show. “We appreciate everything that you’ve done. But move forward. The future is in question, and we can’t promise you anything.”
With 35 seniors across 10 spring sports, Wisconsin is facing a financial pinch like every other NCAA school in the wake of spring cancellations and the looming possibility of a canceled college football season. Last week, Old Dominion cut their wrestling program, citing, among other reasons, the coronavirus. Several athletic departments and conferences have already announced staff-wide pay cuts, including Iowa State, Minnesota, and the Pac-12. Wisconsin has yet to announce pay cuts for Alvarez or any of the department's other top earners, including men's basketball coach Greg Gard or football coach Paul Chryst.
One of Wisconsin's solutions to the pinch: Kicking their spring-sport seniors out the door.
"The NCAA overreacted in restoring a year of eligibility to spring sports students amid the coronavirus-related shutdown, University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said," Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote this week.
The NCAA overreacted in extending eligibility to Kayla Konwent and the other four seniors on Wisconsin's softball team, who lost 30 games to cancellation. Konwent, a Wisconsin native and 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year, won't be welcomed back next season. Instead, she should move on, says Alvarez and hs $1.55-million salary.
Figure it out and remember why you have a job, Barry.
