NCAA Plans To Have Direction On Basketball Season By Mid-September

NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt released a statement Monday on where everything stands as far as the potential of a college basketball season in the fall.

The statement said that the NCAA currently plans to be able to “provide direction” by the middle of September.

“As we prepare for the 2020-21 college basketball season, we have exercised patience and discipline in monitoring the effects of COVID-19 and making decisions regarding the season,” the statement reads. “We have learned a great deal over the course of the summer, and with health and safety being our priority, we have developed and studied contingency plans for alternatives to the scheduled Nov. 10 start date.

“In the coming weeks, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees will take the lead with me in a collaborative process of finalizing any recommendations for consideration by the NCAA Division I Council for the start of the college basketball season. By mid-September, we will provide direction about whether the season and practice start on time or a short-term delay is necessitated by the ongoing pandemic.”

Currently, the Pac-12 is the only major conference to have a plan when it comes to its basketball season, with the conference electing to postpone all sports for the remainder of 2020. The Big Ten, while being the only other major conference to postpone fall sports, has not yet made a decision on when basketball will be played.

“We recognize that we are living and operating in an uncertain time, and it is likely that mid-September will be just the first milestone for many important decisions pertaining to the regular season and the NCAA basketball championships,” the statement said. “While circumstances may warrant flexibility resulting in a different and perhaps imperfect season, the ultimate goal is to safely provide student-athletes and teams with a great college basketball experience.”

Ohio State is currently slated to start the 2020-21 season on Nov. 11 with a home game against Oakland.

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