The 2020-21 men’s and women’s college basketball season could begin Nov. 25, the NCAA Division I Council said Wednesday.
The council said in a statement that no demonstration games or schememages could be held before that date, which is a day before Thanksgiving.
“The start date of the new season near the Thanksgiving holiday provides the best chance for a successful start to the basketball season,” said Dan Gavit, NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball. “It’s a kind of grand compromise and a unified approach focused on the health and safety of the student-athletes participating in the 2021 Division I basketball championships.”
Over the past few weeks, discussions have centered around waiting until November 21-25 for the start of the season. Gavitt said last week at a webinar with the athletic director and other college sports officials that the November 25 consideration is ongoing as campuses across the country will end their fall semester.
“By Thanksgiving Week, as of Nov. 25, 76% of all Division I schools would have either completed their fall semester or released the individual student institution for personal instruction,” Gavitt told Webinar.
Ordinary students are at home for the month of December and the beginning of January, providing at least a six-week window for the college basketball season to begin.
Division I Council has also changed the maximum number of games a team can play, as well as the minimum number of games considered for NCAA Championship selection. The maximum number of games was reduced by four, with teams allowed to play 24 or 25 games plus multiple-team events. The minimum number of games dropped by 50%, it came down to 13 games. It was recommended by both men’s and women’s basketball committees to play at least four non-ference conference games.
Women’s teams can schedule 23 games, plus 25 games without a multiple-team event or multiple-team event.
Full prison practices can begin October 14 with the approval of 30 practices in 42 days until the start of the season. The council has also approved a transition period that allows teams to Sept. Allows to participate in strength and conditioning and skills instruction for up to 12 hours per week between 21 and 13 October.
The original season is expected to begin on November 10. Men’s Champions Classics include Duke, Michigan State, Kansas and Kentucky. It is unclear when or how the pre-season events and non-ference conference games scheduled for the first two weeks of the season will take place. The bubbles and “controlled atmosphere”, as Gavit referred to them last week, are under consideration for a number of non-ference conference tournaments, sources told ESPN.
The November 25 date is only a guide for the start date, as conferences and individual schools will fit into the Division I Council’s planning framework for the season. Gavitt said the NCAA is still preparing for the NCAA tournament scheduled for March and April with 68 teams and 14 sites.
D1 Council Jan. Also extended the deadline of recruitment by 1. With one period remaining since March, no official facial campus visit or assessment period is allowed. However, this extension means that the initial signing periods in basketball (Nov. 11-18) and football (starting December 16) will take place during the dead period.
“While the council acknowledges and appreciates the growing desire to be recruited individually by selected coaching associations, council members have finally addressed the primary concern that current student-athletes on our campus should be protected,” said Council Chairman and Penn. Said Athletic Director M. Grace Calhoun. “We encourage our coaches to interact with virtual student-athletes during this period.”
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