Senior forward and All-Ivy first-team shoo-in Shonn Miller is being forced to wind down his career with Cornell.
Because the Ivy League prohibits the participation of graduate students and Miller missed last season following shoulder surgery, Miller still has a year of eligibility remaining but cannot use it at Cornell.
Miller’s curious predicament follows Columbia forward Alex Rosenberg fracturing his foot before the season and subsequently deciding to withdraw from school, thus allowing him to return to the university and team as a senior in 2015-16. Former Princeton forward Denton Koon also chose to skip this season after he was hurt in preseason, deciding to graduate in the spring and use his final year of eligibility at another school.
Ivy League rules prohibit redshirting, though student-athletes can apply for a medical hardship waiver to receive a fifth year of eligibility.
Here’s an insightful story from the New York Times on Miller’s situation, another reminder that the Ivy League needs to make a major adjustment to its archaic eligibility policies.