For Ohio State athletes like men’s tennis player Kyle Seelig and women’s lacrosse players Jill Rizzo and Liza Hernandez, the last 18 days were filled with uncertainty about whether their college careers were over.
After the NCAA and Big Ten canceled all competitions for the remainder of the academic year on March 12 due to the coronavirus outbreak, seniors from spring sports teams throughout the country faced the reality that they might never play in another college game. Some of them – like Hernandez, Rizzo and Seelig – already knew they would come back for a fifth year if the NCAA afforded them that opportunity, but that wasn’t guaranteed until Monday, when the Division I Council voted in favor of giving all spring sports athletes an additional year of eligibility.