LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — If you were looking for encouraging news, especially encouraging news about college basketball, NCAA Senior Vice President Dan Gavitt provided some Saturday morning.
In a three-minute interview with Andy Katz, Gavitt, the director of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, said the NCAA has planned for the season to begin Nov. 10 despite issues created by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
That’s 101 days from Saturday.
“We are still planning on starting the season on schedule on November 10th.”NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt shares the latest on college basketball with @TheAndyKatz. pic.twitter.com/qThTyEMHzu
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) August 1, 2020
As expected, Gavitt said the NCAA was juggling many plans.
There will be more medical data as well as more information about how the four major professional sports and the NCAA’s fall sports have unfolded and succeeded by then.
"We’re all looking forward to the NBA finishing their season and the playoffs and determining a world champion and we’re hoping that goes great," Gavitt said.
"Because that would be a great thing for the game and all the players and those of us that love it.
"In college basketball we are still planning, right now, on starting the season on schedule on Nov. 10.
"We have plans across the country through our schools and conferences to bring students back to campus safely, just this month in August and early September.
"Many players have been on campus for weeks now, training on campus in a very safe way and been very happy to be back, playing the game they love with their coaches.
"So we’ve got a high level of confidence. As I’ve said before, 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.
"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 but a high level of confidence that it’s going to be, while different, a great experience playing college basketball again."
In a teleconference this week, Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra said that ACC leaders had not yet discussed the upcoming basketball season because they are focused on fall sports, especially football.
But in his teleconference Tuesday, Indiana coach Archie Miller said he was confident there would be a college basketball season.
The 2020 season ended March 12, when games were canceled in multiple conference tournaments across America. That move that was followed by the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in history.
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