LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Many student-athletes are struggling with a tough decision after the NCAA announced that spring sport athletes will get another year of eligibility.
UK Softball senior Alex Martens should have been on the field Tuesday preparing for a game against Morehead State.
Instead, she’s back home in McHenry, Illinois.
“Within 48 hours, our world got flipped upside down completely,” Martens said.
In mid-March the team went from an incredible comeback win over Marshall to learning their season was cancelled because of COVID-19
At the time, Martens had one of the hottest bats in the country.
“It was one of the most fun years I’ve ever had playing softball, and we were just enjoying each other’s presence, enjoying every moment and it all just came to a halt so suddenly,” Martens said.
While Martens led the nation in RBIs and was named the third best player in the US by Softball America, she gives credit to her team.
Her teammates are what she misses the most.
“When it came to an end it hurt so much more because we felt like we had such a good chance," Martens said. "But we’ve learned since then, that you really do have to enjoy every moment because it can be gone like that."
You may have caught the softball standout on SportsCenter on Monday as a part of National Student-Athlete Day.
Now that the NCAA has granted another year of eligibility for spring sport athletes, everyone wants to know if Martens will wear Kentucky blue again.
She says she already had plans to go to grad school at Furman for a program that isn’t offered at UK, leaving her in a tough spot.
“There really are no answers, and people expect me to have answers. But at this point I’m just waiting for as much information to make that decision," Martens explained. "The best financial decision, academic decision, life decision."
