Optimistic Baker: New NCAA eligibility rules not retroactive - ESPN

As the NCAA considers a generational change to the organization's eligibility rules for athletes, some potential clarity emerged regarding one of the most vexing parts of the age-based eligibility proposal.

NCAA president Charlie Baker told ESPN in a phone interview Monday that the implementation, which had been uncertain, is not expected to include athletes who graduated or exhausted their eligibility in the 2025-26 season.

«If you've used up your eligibility, you've used it up,» Baker told ESPN of the tenor of the discussion of the Division I board of directors on Monday.

Baker added that he is «pretty optimistic» the new rules will pass. The age-based eligibility would give athletes five years to compete in Division I, starting immediately after their high school graduation or 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

The Division I board of directors on Monday directed the Division I cabinet to advance the proposal. The cabinet has been discussing the change and will have a meeting about it — which could include a vote — on May 22. «Their direction to the D-I cabinet is full speed ahead on figuring this out,» Baker said.

Regarding the implementation, the NCAA said in a statement that the Division I board formally recommended Monday to «Maintain existing rules — allowing four seasons of competition in five years of eligibility — for student-athletes competing in the 2025-26 academic year; new rules are not expected to retroactively apply to student-athletes whose eligibility is or will be completed by the spring of 2026.»

Baker added to ESPN regarding the implementation directive: «A lot of the coaches, in particular, said this would be enormously challenging in a lot of ways. And I completely understand where they are