OU softball: Patty Gasso anticipates seniors to return if given eligibility relief, but has reservations about how it would work.
Patty Gasso has plenty of questions.
When the sports world went down last week, the collegiate softball season was cancelled just over a month after it began.
As Gasso relayed the news to her players, one of the first thoughts on their minds — particularly the seniors’ — was if they would regain their eligibility.
The answer appears to be yes, as the NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee announced on Friday that eligibility relief would be suitable for spring sport student-athletes. However, the details are still being finalised.
The OU softball coach believes Shannon Saile, Giselle Juarez, and Nicole Mendes, the three seniors on the team this season, would all return if given the chance. She also believes Juarez and Mendes, who both had injuries during the abbreviated 2020 season, might return next year with medical redshirts even if the NCAA does not award the extra year.
However, Gasso still has a lot of questions, not just about her programme, but about programmes across the country.
“Is there going to be a roster limit?” Gasso inquired. “And if that’s the case, what should we do? Cut people? “What do we do?”
And, as the roster grows, will teams have more time to practise? Gasso also questions how programmes will fund larger rosters, both through scholarships and travel fees.
Then there’s the transfer portal, which Gasso believes will be a major concern for many programmes in the near future.
“The portal is going to light up like a Christmas tree in my expectation,” Gasso stated. “Because you have seniors returning, and maybe I am a kid in waiting, and now this player is back, and I’m waiting a whole nother year.”
Right now, programmes are waiting for the NCAA to announce if spring sports participants would receive a year of eligibility back and what that will entail. Whatever the answers to Gasso’s queries are, she is confident the Sooners will be prepared.
“Looking forward, it’s going to be difficult,” Gasso remarked. “But whatever comes our way, we’re prepared to tackle it. And that is how we have always been.”
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