Money: Cornellians lost to (and gained from) the portal

[abmarks]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.   Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

[marty]

That assumes other schools won't figure out how to delay the player's HS graduation until 19.

I don't understand why you don't start the clock at matriculation, full stop.  Guy enters school at 36 and uses hockey to foot the bill for his second career Biology major?  Good!  Encourage continuing education.  The vast majority of males under the age of 21 41 aren't mature enough for college anyway.  Don't waste the experience on overgrown infants.

Because football (mostly) - you have guys who've managed to hoodwink the system into nine years of eligibility and there are concerns around whether that's fair - as well as whether you're actually a student at that point.

And for "continuing education", why limit it at bachelor's degrees? I, for one, would love to see a law student D1 hockey player...

But I mean hold the line at 4 years elapsed from matriculation (with a one-for-one waiver for injuries that cost you a full season). 

Isn't one of the main reasons for the 5 year idea that it will take the decision making onus out of the NCAA's work load?

"We can't figure out if this or that's fair without a lot of heavy lifting so let's give 5 to everyone." 

Bureaucracy at its worst (unless my premise is all wet).

[adamw]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.   Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

One train of thought at the moment is that prep schools will become popular again. Go there and re-do your junior year.

[abmarks]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.   Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

One train of thought at the moment is that prep schools will become popular again. Go there and re-do your junior year.

Either making hockey an even more expensive sport or making prep level NIL and scholarship money the leading candidate for longest thread in 2027-2028. Or both.

[adamw]

Looks like there is language in the new rule that will also expressly prohibit delaying high school graduation for this purpose.  So ... yay?

[marty]

Looks like there is language in the new rule that will also expressly prohibit delaying high school graduation for this purpose.  So ... yay?

So they'll have to try to monitor that rather than whether or not someone deserves their red shirt?

[stereax]

Looks like there is language in the new rule that will also expressly prohibit delaying high school graduation for this purpose.  So ... yay?

So they'll have to try to monitor that rather than whether or not someone deserves their red shirt?

Yeah this is gonna be even more of a PITA to implement than redshirting. At least there's medical records and shit for that.

[marty]

Looks like there is language in the new rule that will also expressly prohibit delaying high school graduation for this purpose.  So ... yay?

So they'll have to try to monitor that rather than whether or not someone deserves their red shirt?

Yeah this is gonna be even more of a PITA to implement than redshirting. At least there's medical records and shit for that.

"The goalie are my homework."

[stereax]

Looks like there is language in the new rule that will also expressly prohibit delaying high school graduation for this purpose.  So ... yay?

So they'll have to try to monitor that rather than whether or not someone deserves their red shirt?

Yeah this is gonna be even more of a PITA to implement than redshirting. At least there's medical records and shit for that.

"The goalie are my homework."

I wouldn't put it above some goalies...

[Pghas]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.   Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

You could do a PG year at a prep school, but if that is helpful to you , you're not a D1 level player

[BearLover]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.   Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

You could do a PG year at a prep school, but if that is helpful to you , you're not a D1 level player

But you'd still have graduated from high school at the same time regardless. Graduating a second time doesn't reset the clock.

[tretiak]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.  Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

You could do a PG year at a prep school, but if that is helpful to you , you're not a D1 level player

But you'd still have graduated from high school at the same time regardless. Graduating a second time doesn't reset the clock.

My guess is prep schools will become more strict in accepting public school credits. 1 year repeat to delay graduation will be easy to accomplish, especially those from Quebec. 2 years is probably doable.

Unless PG years are grandfathered in, this will kill PGs. Most likely a 16/17 year old recruit who's D1 competitive but not a top recruit will start looking to repeat years at prep school to get the age edge back.

Adam, any thoughts on how 5 year eligibility will impact USHL?   

[adamw]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.  Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

You could do a PG year at a prep school, but if that is helpful to you , you're not a D1 level player

But you'd still have graduated from high school at the same time regardless. Graduating a second time doesn't reset the clock.

My guess is prep schools will become more strict in accepting public school credits. 1 year repeat to delay graduation will be easy to accomplish, especially those from Quebec. 2 years is probably doable.

Unless PG years are grandfathered in, this will kill PGs. Most likely a 16/17 year old recruit who's D1 competitive but not a top recruit will start looking to repeat years at prep school to get the age edge back.

Adam, any thoughts on how 5 year eligibility will impact USHL?   

I believe I said this earlier - but there will be no delaying HS graduation.  This is what coaches were saying at first - but after going to the coaches meetings in Florida last week, that is off the table. The new rule will not allow that either.

So you're looking at the clock to begin ticking at 17 or 18 - 5 years of eligibility - no matter what. Which likely means most college teams will bring in 19 year olds with 4 years left.  It will make the 5th year issue largely a non-factor - as BL indicated last week.

I'm working on a new story - to be published soon - summing up last week's meetings.

[BearLover]

Can someone explain the realistic way a kid delays HS graduation by a year two?

Short of failing something that is required for graduation, or getting permission to take an entire year off from school I can't figure it out.  Probably easier to do at a private school, but I'm trying to picture the kid who goes to a public US high school.

My high school days were certainly a long time ago (HS class of '85) but this only ever happened iirc if you basically flunked most of your classes one yr, or had a medical issue that made you miss too much class (kid had a serious car accident requiring lengthy rehab, or the occasionally pregnancy and child birth )

You could do a PG year at a prep school, but if that is helpful to you , you're not a D1 level player

But you'd still have graduated from high school at the same time regardless. Graduating a second time doesn't reset the clock.

My guess is prep schools will become more strict in accepting public school credits. 1 year repeat to delay graduation will be easy to accomplish, especially those from Quebec. 2 years is probably doable.

Unless PG years are grandfathered in, this will kill PGs. Most likely a 16/17 year old recruit who's D1 competitive but not a top recruit will start looking to repeat years at prep school to get the age edge back.

Adam, any thoughts on how 5 year eligibility will impact USHL?   

I believe I said this earlier - but there will be no delaying HS graduation.  This is what coaches were saying at first - but after going to the coaches meetings in Florida last week, that is off the table. The new rule will not allow that either.

So you're looking at the clock to begin ticking at 17 or 18 - 5 years of eligibility - no matter what. Which likely means most college teams will bring in 19 year olds with 4 years left.  It will make the 5th year issue largely a non-factor - as BL indicated last week.

I'm working on a new story - to be published soon - summing up last week's meetings.

If this comes to pass, the 5 year rule will have an interesting effect on Cornell.

Hockey - we'll need to bring in recruits earlier, but so will every other team. I don't think we'll have a huge issue bringing in kids at 19, but schools that rely on older kids will be hurt. These are mostly the lesser hockey programs, not the blue bloods, so the blue bloods will benefit comparatively. Sounds like the Quebec recruiting issue may be tough initially but kids planning on college will find some way to graduate at 18 I imagine.

Lacrosse - very bad for us and all other Ivies. I wonder if kids will just not attend a couple fall semesters so as to spend all five years of eligibility at Cornell. If so, that mitigates the downside, but it still prevents us from bringing in grad transfers like the Marylands and Hopkins of the world. So, at minimum a comparative disadvantage for the Ivies.

Basketball - now kids like Cooper Noard can stay 4 years and graduate before doing a grad year elsewhere, though who knows if this actually helps since these kids might still want to graduate in 3 years and do 2 grad years elsewhere and make even more money. I don't think this will much help our ability to compete nationally and certainly not within our conference, as the better teams were seeing their stars transfer out/graduate early more often than we were.

Wrestling - sounds bad but I guess a lot of kids were doing a postgrad year after high school already to train for college?

[adamw]

here's my article

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2026/05/04_Eligibility-Changes-Hot-Topic.php