On Thursday, March 12, Stony Brook Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron stood center as the Women’s Basketball team prepared to play for its first America East Championship. The player’s eager faces turned to shock and disappointment as Heilbron broke the news that tomorrow’s game was canceled. Within six hours, the entire NCAA Spring season was over.
“There are no words,” Heilbron said. “This hurts right now.”
Since then, Heilbron has lived through video meetings and conference calls with University leaders. Island Federal Arena has been converted to house COVID-19 patients, less than two weeks after preparing to host a championship game. Students and student-athletes have been sent home to continue learning in isolation.
On Monday, March 30, Heilbron, and 38 other NCAA Division-I council members gave athletes and fans a glimmer of hope for the future. They ruled that senior spring-sport athletes will have another year of eligibility under a blanket-waiver.
Heilbron represents the America East Conference at the council. The Stony Brook Athletic Director joined the council in January 2018.
One of the biggest questions surrounding teams is ‘who is coming back?’
For example, Stony Brook Lacrosse senior athlete Ally Kennedy immediately announced her intent to return while teammate Taryn Ohlmiller waited until just prior to the vote, choosing another year over graduate school. However, others such as Sydney Gagnon had potential jobs and other conflicts that will impact their future decision.
“We’ve heard from a number of student-athletes indicating that they would like to come back but now that we know the guidelines, we can put a plan into place,” Heilbron said. “Ultimately, our student-athletes need to make informed decisions so we need to determine what we are going to be able to do from a financial standpoint. We’re working on those plans with our coaches so that we can soon share them with the student-athletes.”
The council voted to increase the roster limit for Baseball in 2021. Although no specific number has been set, the council member reiterated what the new criteria entails.
“All spring student-athletes who would have exhausted their eligibility are non-counters so they wouldn’t apply to the maximum for each sport. This exemption also applies to how the seniors in baseball would not be counted as part of the roster limit.”
While many of the decisions received praise on social media, the council’s received mixed reviews after not extending eligibility for basketball players. Some users argued seniors should receive another year of eligibility since many conference’s finished without a champion.
However, Heilbron stood by the council’s decision.
“Since most winter sport student-athletes were able to complete their regular season, they did not meet existing legislative waiver criteria. In light of that fact, I agree with the decision.”
Heilbron also stressed the importance of remaining connected with his coaches and players throughout self-isolation.
“We have had video meetings with our coaches and I’ve spoken to a number of student-athletes since the cancellation of the spring season. This has been extremely difficult for everyone and it is more important than ever that we stay connected.”
Heilbron is aiming to bring back every athlete under the same scholarship amount. Although, he noted it won’t be easy financially with incoming athletes and transfers impacting rosters. He noted that it would cost nearly $700,000 if every senior returned to Stony Brook Athletics.
The NCAA ruling committees have remained active since Monday’s rulings. The Council Coordination Committee extended the recruiting dead period until May 31. The Collegiate Commissioners Association ruled all D-I and D-II sports will be in a signing period from April 15 to Aug. 1.
