In March, the NCAA made the decision to cancel the March Madness Tournament and the all winter and spring sports. Recently, the Big Ten announced a postponement of fall sports including football.
Now, the NCAA has set a deadline for a decision on the 2020 basketball season start date. The NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, issued a statement which says that the DI Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees aim to have a decision by mid-September as to whether or not basketball can start on time or will be delayed.
Here is a quote from Dan Gavitt per his statement:
“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. 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.
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. 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.”
