The NCAA’s Division I Council has reportedly voted to grant an additional year of eligibility to winter sport athletes.

According to The Athletic‘s Nicole Auerbach, winter sport athletes will receive an extra year of eligibility regardless of how much or little they play.

Auerbach followed up by saying the rationale behind the decision was that even if the players play a full slate of games, they won’t be getting the original experience they signed up for. Additionally, she said its “obviously quite likely” that teams will play a different amount of games this season due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, it was announced that Division I men’s and women’s hockey, as well as the NCAA basketball season would be delayed to start the season. Since then, both sports have set a start date, with hockey starting as soon as November 13 and basketball starting November 25.

This is now the third-consecutive sports season where student-athletes will be granted an extra year of eligibility. When the coronavirus shut down spring sports earlier this year, the NCAA announced it was granting all spring sport athletes an additional year of eligibility. Additionally, the NCAA is granting all fall sport athletes an extra year of eligibility due to each sport’s 2020 season being pushed back.

We’ll update this story as more information becomes available.