Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea and his team are in a unique position right now. The NCAA decided this spring to award athletes who participate in spring sports another season of eligibility to make up for the loss of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pieces all came together to allow one of the best senior groups in the country to come back for another season, and all seven members of the class decided they weren't ready to give up the dream of winning a National Championship just yet and agreed to return to UA for one more year.

That would be good enough for most programs to be ecstatic, but Arizona also happens to have a top-rated incoming freshman class on board for the 2021 season as well meaning the Wildcats will have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country once again next year.

Candrea understands that other programs are in the same position, so he is expecting the level of softball being played at the collegiate level next year to be at a greater level. However, he is plenty thrilled to have the group that he does and understands what it means for the end goal heading into next year.

"This gives us definitely a foundation that you very seldom have," Candrea said Monday during a virtual Zoom conversation with local media members. "This senior class is a very unique class because they bring a lot of talent, but they have been our core for many years. When you walk into a season and you have that core already established, I think it's going to be a great experience for our freshmen coming in to be able to learn from this group.

"I think the transition is going to be quite smooth. ... A lot of the conversations have been what's ahead and how excited they are to play with this group."

Recently the Wildcats received one of their biggest boosts of the offseason when USA Softball decided to allow its college players, who had been set to take part in the 2020 Olympics, an opportunity to do both next year now that the Summer Games have been postponed. What that meant is that Arizona All-American catcher Dejah Mulipola would get her chance to finish out her career and play for a gold medal in the same year.

Mulipola did not play for UA this year as she toured with Team USA in preparation for the Olympics. Now, she will get the opportunity to finish her time in Tucson with the rest of her senior class adding even more firepower and experience to a loaded lineup.

"I was super excited because I witnessed what it was like to miss my senior collegiate year with my class, technically speaking," she said Monday. "So, it was a little bittersweet being on the Olympic tour and living out that dream but also being sad that I wasn't with my class back at Arizona playing and finishing out my year with them.

"To hear that I got to do both in the end was super exciting for me and I'm just pumped that it happened that way."

All the returning players and the way that this offseason has played out because of the changes forced by the coronavirus has brought on a different type of challenge that coaches don't normally face to the extent they have this spring. Unexpected returns means a numbers crunch to fit all the players on the same roster.

A handful of UA players have decided to leave the program knowing that playing time was likely to be limited because of the incoming class combined with the return of a veteran core of players that includes Mulipola and her six fellow seniors — Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, Jessie Harper, Malia Martinez, Reyna Carranco, Alyssa Denham and Mariah Lopez.

That some players would be leaving is not a surprise to Candrea who understood that it would be a difficult process to keep everyone on board.

'Well I knew that when we had the opportunity to bring our seniors back, since we had such a large class and combine that with bringing in eight freshmen and that freshman class is a very strong class, I knew that it would definitely make some people take a look at their future, their playing time and every kid comes here because they want to play," he said. "This brought a whole other set of circumstances that I knew there would be a little bit of a trickle-down effect from it.

"You know we had some very honest and open conversations with kids about their future and about their playing time, and I really felt like for many of them that this was the time to maybe look at other options if that's what was on the table for them."

Candrea added that he hates losing players from his program, but he believes the team is now ready to move forward with the dust now settled.

Such a big collection of talent on one team is certainly going to put Arizona at the forefront of the conversation about the Women's College World Series in 2021. The Wildcats will have a roster capable of winning a lot of games next year and Candrea is not shying away from the team's biggest goal.

"Our expectations are to compete for a National Championship," he said. "We're just kind of waiting for the unknowns to find out when we can turn the switch on and start practicing again. That's how excited we are to get back on the field and get back to Hillenbrand.

"This team is going to be very talented and should be a very good team."