Post by slxpress on Jul 13, 2024 14:38:20 GMT -5
No, that’s not how it works. She would only get the one redshirt year, whether she was injured or not.
She could apply for a 6th year waiver if she misses another year because of injury, but as of now it would for sure be denied.
It's a common misconception.
The basic fundamental is you have 5 years to complete 4 years of eligibility. Redshirt is a term used to describe a year not spent in competition so as not to use one of the four years of eligibility, while still staying within the five years of being able to compete. What we use to describe "redshirting" and "medical redshirt" are not literally defined that way by the NCAA. But the way we use those terms are simply different ways of complying with the 5 years to complete 4. A traditional redshirt is when the athlete simply doesn't compete for a year. A medical redshirt is the term used to describe when a player suffers an injury early enough in a season where they're granted an exception because of the injury. There is a formula applied that's known in advance by all parties. For example, Alexis Stucky for Florida has already been granted a medical redshirt for last season because she only appeared in 9 matches, which fits the formula the NCAA uses to determine a medical redshirt. The NCAA didn't get involved in giving her the medical redshirt. That was done at the conference level applying the formula set out for all athletes.
What Caffey was given was a medical waiver. This is not the same thing as a medical redshirt. It's not possible to get both a redshirt year AND a medical redshirt year. It's one or the other. Really, it's simply a redshirt year, but given either because the athlete didn't play, or they suffered an injury early enough in the season to successfully apply in their case.
The medical waiver is applied for to the NCAA - not the conference offices like a medical redshirt is - and is only done AFTER a player has exhausted their 5 years of eligibility. Not before. A medical redshirt is applied for to the conference office right after the season is over, and is rubber stamped based on whether they qualify under the formula or not.
When the NCAA started granting medical waivers they were much harsher whether it would be granted or not. The application was - and still is, for that matter - a black box, with it not obvious who is on the committee making the decisions, or why they come to the conclusion they come to. It used to be that an athlete really had to lose two full seasons to injury, plus their redshirt year - so three full seasons out of the 5 years that were lost one way or another. In the last decade or so it's pretty universal an athlete simply needs to lose one year to injury, plus their redshirt year, whatever the cause, and they'll be granted a 6th year of eligibility for a medical waiver.
In the above example of Alexis Stucky, at this point she will not be granted a medical waiver at the end of her eligibility, because she's getting a medical redshirt. If, on the other hand - and I'm not trying to manifest anything here - she were to lose another full season due to injury, then she would almost certainly be granted a 6th year of eligibility. This is true whether it's a new injury, or it simply takes her a full season to recover and she'd not able to play this year. Not saying any of that is going to happen. Just using it as an example of how the process is applied.
It can get confusing not only because we use terms incorrectly in common parlance, but also because the NCAA can grant waivers for all kinds of reasons. For example, Lauenstein will likely be granted a 6th year of eligiblity because of her pregnancy. Student athletes who participate in a mission trip - most commonly applied to Mormons, but it's not specific - also have their years of eligibility extended. Or more accurately, those years do not count towards their 5 years. Either or.
Also, football now has a special rule where players are able to participate and still earn a redshirt if they play in fewer in than 4 games in a season. I have a personal relationship with a student athlete who was granted a redshirt even though they played 10 minutes their freshman season, even though the rule is pretty cut and dried that she shouldn't have been able to be classified as a redshirt.
Nonetheless, even with all the waivers and exceptions regarding redshirts and rules of eligibility - and I have a strong feeling we'll see some changes along with all the other changes coming down the pike for college sports - the basic fundamental of 5 years to play 4, and how the terms redshirt and medical redshirt apply to that fundamental rule, haven't really changed all that much for decades. It's simply that we've confused the terms on message boards and various watercooler dialogues to change the meaning of the terms, and to use them interchangeably for circumstances they don't really apply to.
I hope that makes some sense.