Next season is expecting to be one of the most unusual years in college baseball.

Because of the Coronavirus outbreak, spring athletes are getting an extra year of eligibility and the MLB Draft is being shortened to just five rounds, which means there are expected to be more elite talent than ever in college baseball.

But, because of that, roster management will be harder than ever with coaches hoping for some roster flexibility next year.

“We’re holding out hope. They’ve made it so the seniors don’t count if they come back against your roster limit and scholarship limits. For most schools, especially in our conference, is minimal,” Mark Kingston said. “We only have four seniors to begin with. If only two come back, their effect on roster impacts won’t make a major impact. Obviously we’re not the decision makers as coaches but we’re still hoping the NCAA and the baseball council will understand the uniqueness of our sport.”

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Spring athletes are getting another year of eligibility, which means seniors are able to come back to school. The good news is they won’t count towards the roster limit of 35 or the 11.7 scholarship limit either.

But, because of the MLB Draft shortening, it’ll likely mean more juniors than ever returning to school and high-level high school talents coming in as well.

In the SEC, where seniors are a rarity, the Gamecocks are presented a difficult conundrum with that.

They’ll return almost their entire team next year and bring in the majority of their 20-man recruiting class, which will push the team’s roster limits to the ultimate extremes.

“We’re the only sport with so many roster restrictions and have to deal with the Major League Draft out of high school, after sophomore years and junior years,” Kingston said. “There are so many factors involved we’re hoping the NCAA sits back and says even if it’s only for a one-year period we need to help coaches and players manage an unprecedented situation."

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The Gamecocks’ currently have signed 18 of their 20-man class, which is top 10 in most recruiting services, and are now expected to bring in almost all of those with the shortened MLB Draft.

Right now the class is rated No. 7 nationally and they will have almost all of their juniors coming back to campus as well repeating their junior seasons.

With it, they will have a lot of folks coming back ready to compete in the fall once scrimmages are able to happen.

“Great players love competition. This is not a situation unique to us. This is going on everywhere around the country. Great players like competition," Kingston said. "It will probably raise the level of baseball across the country. The best players will play. You’re going to get on the field because you’re playing at a high level. When you have a good program. You have more than one good player at a position.”