The wait was about three hours on social media. Type in NCAA eligibility. Refresh. Click latest on Twitter and see everyone else waiting. Cue the Jeopardy theme music.

The couple of house they had to wait wasn’t nearly as long as what NCAA Division I athletes have endured the past two weeks. The Horizon League canceled the spring sports season on March 16 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Around 7 p.m., Monday, the NCAA Division I Council approved an extra year of eligibility for all spring sports athletes. Winter sport athletes do not receive that waiver.

Youngstown State University baseball coach Dan Bertolini has been anxiously waiting to get word on this one way or another.

“I’m so happy for our senior class, first and foremost, that they are able to get a true senior year,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of guys that have been injured, fought through a lot of adversity to play their senior year. I’m really happy for them that they’re able to get a true senior year.”

The Penguins have eight seniors on their roster, including five redshirt seniors. YSU was 7-7 when its season was canceled, including winning an opening series at the University of Houston.

Men’s tennis has two seniors, while softball tallies four. There are 20 on both the men and women’s track and field rosters.

Baseball rosters are held to a maximum of 35, with 27 on scholarship. No returning seniors from 2019-20 season will count toward those roster and scholarship numbers.

“Overall, I think it was the right thing to do,” Bertolini said.

“It was the tough thing to do financially for a lot of institutions, but I feel overall that this is a situation that’s unprecedented outside of anyone’s control. For them to get an extra year, I thought it was the right thing for them to do.”

Those seniors, who would’ve exhausted their eligibility after this season, have the opportunity to return in the 2020-21 year without requiring the scholarship be rewarded at the same level as it was the previous year.

Also, schools can use the NCAA Student Assistance Fund to pay scholarships for those students.

YSU Director of Athletic Ron Strollo said how the extra scholarships will affect the athletic budget, which is usually around $16 million, is still unknown at this point.

Strollo added the NCAA has slashed distributions to the member schools by two-thirds. That check is usually over $1 million. He also has to factor in how the community responds with buying tickets, sponsorships and fundraising.

“Before we make any decisions on what scholarships we’re able to offer, we’re going to need to know where we fall on the income stream,” Strollo said. “Also, we’re going to need to have a sense of what seniors are interested in coming back and what their scholarship amounts are.”

When will those decisions be made?

“It’s so hard to say,” Strollo said. “A lot depends on how quickly the economy is back and running. No one has an answer there yet.

“We need to be sensitive to these students who are trying to make plans for their future. We need to provide them as much information as possible because we can. We’re trying to balance all of that. Right now, we’re sitting in the unknown for a little bit there.”

Bertolini said he was excited to know his athletic department was in support of Monday’s measure by the NCAA.

“Ron and our entire university does a fantastic job supporting all of our athletics and especially our baseball program,” he said. “I know he was in favor of getting everyone their year back. There’s going to be some things that are going to have to be worked out in the next few weeks, months.”

For now, having his seniors return is something Bertolini and his team treasure.

“Our whole team is excited,” he said. “We had a special group of guys. We started the season. We’re happy of how things went. I felt those guys were tight and wanted to play again with each other. Just a lot of really happy guys. A lot of anxious moments the last couple of days. There was a lot of traction going on social media about what the ruling was going to be and talk to Ron and figure out where we were going to go. Our seniors, especially, were anxious of what the ruling was going to be. I’m happy the decision has been made and we can move on from now.”