Former LSU baseball standout Kramer Robertson weighs in on the eligibility ‘mess’ in college sports

This week’s news that “the NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports” was warmly received in the sports world. After all, it seems unfair to seniors to have the NCAA pull the plug on their final season of play.

While it might seem right to give seniors another year of eligibility, former LSU baseball standout Kramer Robertson recently explained how it will be ‘mess’ for many spring sports, particularly the one he played.

“I mean for me personally, I would’ve gone back for a 10th year,” Robertson told SiriusXM’s SEC Radio, per 247Sports. “I’d still be there if I could, I love it that much. That’s not the case for everybody. I mean, it’s your dream since you’re a little kid to play professional baseball. You want to have that opportunity. We were talking today, it really gets tricky (for guys) who are fresh prospects this year who needed a big year to go into the draft and have an opportunity at professional baseball and now you don’t get that. They get their year of eligibility back but I don’t know if you want to go back.

“You’re 23, 22 years old and (would) be a 5th year senior. How it works with the scholarships, having that many people on the roster, it’s a mess right now. It’s a snowball effect. I don’t know what they’re going to do. It is uncharted waters. I can’t imagine having 60 guys on the roster in the Fall and then guys have another year of eligibility. What classes (do) they have to take if they already graduated? It’s a mess right now and people are going to have a lot on their hands to deal with next year.”

While many college sports fans thought of seniors on their final year of eligibility, in baseball the suspended season is just as impactful (if not more impactful) to juniors. As far as college baseball and the MLB Draft, after high school, four-year college players can not enter the draft again until their junior season. With the option to return for a senior season being the player’s little bit of leverage when negotiating with MLB clubs, the most talented players leave after their junior seasons. It’s going to be a while before all the coronavirus-related alterations in sports get properly sorted out.

SDS Staff

Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.