There is still some uncertainty about whether or not college football can have a season, but in the back of a lot of fans' minds is the thought of basketball and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic could have on that sport this year. The last time anyone saw college basketball was in March just as the pandemic hit its early peak with teams across the country participating in conference tournaments awaiting the start of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.
Still, the waiting will have to continue as programs continue to hit the floor again while awaiting the official word about the upcoming season. Many teams across the country are treating the process differently. Arizona, for example, has not yet allowed its basketball players to return to campus while some programs have already started their summer workouts.
UNLV recently announced that it will be sending its players home likely until September after canceling its summer basketball workouts.
Every program is working at a different pace and with a different plan, but the NCAA is still planning to begin the season on time Nov. 10. Its senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, recently spoke with reporter Andy Katz about the upcoming season and he remains confident that NCAA is not at a point where it needs to alter the schedule in any way.
“In college basketball we are planning on starting the season, right now, on schedule on Nov. 10,” Gavitt said. “We have plans across the country through our schools and conferences to bring students back to campus safely just this month in August and in early September. Many players have been on campus for weeks now training on campus in a very safe way and have been very happy to be back playing the game they love with their coaches.
“So, we've got a high level of confidence that as long as basketball is being played safely anywhere in the world this season that we'll be playing NCAA college basketball as well – both regular season and certainly the Tournament in 2021.”
There is still no COVID-19 vaccine available to the public at this stage, but with health officials claiming that one could hit the market later this year or early in 2021 means the chances that the NCAA Tournament could are better than they were this year when the event was canceled.
"We've got all sorts of plans and alternatives that we're looking at in order to be able to do that in a safe and responsible way," Gavitt said of the big college sports event held each March. "But a high level of confidence that there's going to be, while different, a great experience playing college basketball again."
As decision makers on the football side have acknowledged already, time is crucial when it comes to determining what will happen this season. That is one reason the football season has been pushed back by nearly a month in the Pac-12 and moved to a league-only schedule. The NCAA understands that what happens between now and Nov. 10 could change drastically when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, so while there is confidence about the season those plans could always change and there is still time to make any adjustments.
"All of the decision makers in the game have been trying to exercise patience, and make sure we learn as much as we can about the uncertainty around the virus and make sure that we make the best informed decisions for the health and safety of the players, coaches and everyone around the game," Gavitt said. "We're continuing to do that. We're developing all sorts of contingencies and alternatives based on information that we're learning on a week-by-week basis.
" ... We're probably looking at some time in September having to make decisions about whether we stick with the plan to start on Nov. 10 or consider other alternatives. We'll continue to look at those alternatives and contingencies, but we need to be patient. We need to learn. We need to see how the fall sports, football in particular, start. How the NBA finishes their season and Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball and the NHL and we're doing that. We know so much more today than we did a month ago."
Arizona is set to begin bringing its basketball players back to campus later this month after restarting its reentry plan this week.
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