Eligibility: AMB Basketball-Thibeaux

2020-21 Season 

September 22, 2020

Facts:

Brandi Thibeaux attended Olds College during the 2019-20 academic year and competed as a member of the OC Women’s Basketball team. Ms. Thibeaux successfully completed 18 credits during the academic year, 9 in each semester.

Ms. Thibeaux has transferred to Ambrose University for the 2020-21 academic year. In completing the Universal Transfer Form, OC has indicated that Ms. Thibeaux would have been ineligible to have competed for OC had she not transferred to AMB, as her cumulative 2019-20 GPA fell below OC’s eligibility standard of 1.7 for first year student-athletes.

AMB seeks a ruling that Ms. Thibeaux is immediately eligible to compete.

Ruling:

The relevant ACAC Operating Code sections are identified below:

2019-20 Academic Relief - ACAC OC Article I, Section 5

For evaluating the 2019-20 season (Added May, 2020):

1) Student-athletes who were eligible under the academic progress rule for the 2019-20 season will be eligible for the 2020-21 season, regardless of credit completion. This also includes the following students:

a. Student-athletes that were added to the ineligible list following the Fall 2019 session will be removed from the list, without proof of recovery.

2) Students who were ineligible before the 2019-20 season and who did not restore their status during the Fall 2019 session, but who were full-time students during the Winter 2020 session may be removed for the list with proof of full time registration during the Winter 2020 session.

3) Students who are on the ineligible list and who were not studying in 2019-20 remain on the list until reinstated through standard CCAA & ACAC Reinstatement Rules

Transfer Rules - ACAC OC Article I, Section 5

1.6.3. Academic Eligibility – Transfer Students

1.6.3.1. A student-athlete who transfers to a CCAA institution from a post-secondary institution outside of or within the CCAA is considered eligible to compete immediately in the CCAA if the student athlete is deemed academically eligible to compete in the subsequent semester at the previous institution they attended. Does not include mid-season transfers in the same sport.

In transfer situations, the ACAC has historically shown deference to the institution from which the student-athlete is transferring. Therefore, on a strict interpretation of Rule 1.6.3.1, Ms. Thibeaux would not be immediately eligible to compete for AMB given that she was ineligible to compete for OC at the time of her transfer based on the internal academic requirements at that institution.

The issue to be determined is the interplay between the revised preamble to Article I Section 5 and Rule 1.6.3.1, both of which are reproduced above.

The revised preamble is intended to provide student-athletes with academic relief due to the effects of COVID-19. The pandemic has clearly had a unique impact on student-athletes depending on their individual circumstances, the extent of which is impossible to accurately measure. In revising the preamble, the ACAC, in alignment with CCAA eligibility rule adjustments, has indicated its intention to interpret the rules of eligibility generously in order to ensure that no student-athlete has been negatively impacted by the effects of the pandemic.

In this case, although the wording of Rule 1.6.3.1 remains unchanged, I have elected to interpret that rule within the spirit of the revised preamble. Therefore, notwithstanding that Ms. Thibeaux does not comply with Rule 1.6.3.1, it is my view that she is immediately eligible to compete for AMB based on her eligibility during the 2019-20 academic year.

Sincerely,

Bill Hendsbee 
ACAC Commissioner