At the end of a whirlwind week that culminated with the cancellation of winter and spring NCAA Championships, UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White held a press conference Friday afternoon to speak about the issues at hand.
Though many questions remain, White supports additional eligibility for affected players and clings to hope spring sports could still conduct an abbreviated season.
You can watch the full presser above, otherwise here are the key points addressed:
Danny White began by saying their top responsibility is the health of their student-athletes.
White said he was still "getting over the shock" of the cancellation of NCAA Championships. He would have preferred a postponement, but acknowledged they don't know yet the impact of the virus.
"It's been really hard for our staff and coaches, but most of all our student-athletes to see that opportunity go away," White said.
White was at the UCF-Miami baseball game on Wednesday and had an idea where things might be heading when he saw the NBA suspended their season.'
"I started wondering where will this stop? But I didn't realize the next day would go like it did."
He said if there's a positive of the last few days it's how much college athletics has come together.
The most "complicated" issue right now regards the status of spring seasons. He strongly believes that winter (basketball) and spring sports players, not just seniors, should get an extra year of eligibility.
He says they will be slow to make decisions so they know they made the right decisions. They are still hoping they can perhaps a salvage a shortened season for the spring sports, assuming the virus situation improves in time.
"We're learning as we go. Things are evolving hourly."
For the spring sports, they are dealing with the situation on a sport-by-sport basis. They may hold practices, but it would be completely voluntary. It's also voluntary for the student-athletes if they want to return to campus. The weight room, etc. will be open. He has asked the coaches to be connected to the athletes and make decisions in their best interest.
On a potential financial impact:
"We don't know. We're trying to figure it out. With the conference tournament being canceled, there are financial implications, both revenue and expense. Still don't know how it's going to play out with the NCAA Tournament. Don't know what their insurance looks like and all that. If we're not playing games and jumping on planes and traveling all over the country for our spring sports, there's a savings there. But we have season ticket holders that have bought baseball tickets. It's fluid. We probably won't get a handle on that for a week or two."
On whether the NCAA should grant an additional year of eligibility to seniors, White went even further and said all players should receive another year and that includes winter sports as well (basketball):
"I'm strongly supportive of that. Knowing how hard these kids work, from the time they're five or six years old to get that four years of experience. It's an unbelievable investment of time and capital with their families. It's an all-in thing to be an athlete at this level. I think the seniors and everybody on the roster should get an added year of eligibility which is going to create some complications with the scholarship caps. We're going to have to figure out some flexibility there to make it work. I don't think we should stop with the spring sports just because the winter sports got to play the regular season. You can't snatch away that championship opportunity. I think about the seniors, especially on our women's basketball team that I think had earned a second consecutive at-large bid. I think should they choose to come back and play, if they want to do that, I'm going to strongly support that."
Asked about the status of the spring football game which had been scheduled for April 4, no announcement yet, but a postponement is expected. They still don't know what spring practice is going to look like.
Though today's press conference was centered about UCF's response to virus concerns and NCAA issues, I did ask about his new contract extension that had been announced earlier in the week.
"I get way too much credit," White said. "Our student-athletes, our coaches, what they're accomplishing on the field and on the court, on the track, in the boats, it's amazing. I think we have a lot of work to do if we're going to sustain the success that we're having. We are very serious about building a perennial top 25 athletics department here. I've been consistent with that since the day I got here. I couldn't be more excited than I am about what we can get accomplished here. But it's going to take a lot more work.
"What I like about that announcement is for our donors, for our fans, everybody that's contributing to lifting this athletics department up, I want them to see that we are a legit powerhouse in college athletics and we're going to be a national player. I'd be crazy to think about going anywhere. We're just really lucky to be here."
