https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-tournament...48893.html
The push for an extra year of eligibility
Meanwhile, across America, as the unprecedented news reverberated, gears began to spin. Coaches and athletic directors worked phones. They asked their athletes, across 18 winter sports and 14 spring ones: If the NCAA were to grant outgoing seniors an additional year of eligibility, would you be interested?
On social media, athletes themselves pleaded for another shot. Former pros and Olympic medalists joined the chorus. In interviews, coaches chimed in. Three nights earlier, East Tennessee State’s 30-4 men’s basketball team had qualified for the NCAA tournament. With it now shuttered, head coach Steve Forbes said, “I will make it my mission to fight for another year of eligibility for our five seniors.”
Athletic directors seemed to be on board too. “To our spring sport seniors: In time, we will fight to reinstate your final year of eligibility,” UMass AD Ryan Bamford tweeted.
As the calls crescendoed, Wahrman pulled up Change.org and got to work. She created a petition, then shared it with teammates and friends. It quickly spread to friends of friends and beyond. Across Iowa’s campus, and then across others. It ticked past 1,000 digital signatures, then 5,000, then 10,000. Around 18 hours after its creation, it was at 90,000 and rapidly climbing.
It had begun to feel like a movement. And that evening on ESPN, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma had given it a prominent voice.