Athletes face national signing day amid uncertainty over roster limits

College recruits and coaches are facing critical decisions this Wednesday on national signing day without clear answers for how their teams could be affected by a pending antitrust settlement that could eliminate thousands of Division I roster spots by the start of next year and have already caused some athletes to lose verbal scholarship offers.

Leaders across college sports are rewriting myriad rules in preparation for implementing changes mandated by the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement. Part of the pending agreement would set new limits for the maximum roster size of every Division I NCAA-sponsored sport, reducing D-I opportunities by at least 4,739 if the settlement is approved.

The new maximum roster size for 19 of 43 NCAA sports would be smaller than the current average roster in those sports. A handful of sports, including football, baseball and women’s soccer, would be disproportionately affected. Those reductions already have…