By Dana O'Neil 2h ago
For the past few weeks, as college football tried to determine its future, college basketball simmered on the backburner, most people too caught up in the pigskin to even think about a sport that doesn’t start until November. But the Pac-12’s decision to postpone all sports until Jan. 1, including basketball, officially brought into question what basketball will look like in 2020-21.
At the forefront of the coronavirus outbreak, the sport saw its season canceled abruptly. Now the virus threatens its start. With so much uncertainty, there are more questions than answers, but Dan Gavitt, the NCAA vice president of men’s basketball, tried to provide clarity on the issues that he could in a call with The Athletic.
How is basketball better equipped to make a unilateral decision about the season start date, compared to football?
The oversight committee will play a big role in that, and the basketball committee as well, what with their authority over selection, seeding and bracketing when the tournament is held. I’m involved with all of them, and with the NABC as well, so there’s some connectivity there.
If there’s a decision regarding a change in the start date, technically the oversight committee will make a recommendation to the Division I Council, and then I’d hope and pray that they’d take their guidance, understanding that they know what’s best.
So the oversight committee will determine if the start of the season has to be changed for everyone?
Yes.
Is there a deadline for determining the season’s start?
Not exactly. Practice starts Sept. 29 for teams that are scheduled to play on Nov. 10. If we’re going to make any alterations, I’d say it has to be in the middle of September. We have to be fair to our student-athletes.
The one thing football lacked was a definitive leader. You mentioned that you’re involved in conversations with all of the committees, as well as the NABC. Can you be the de facto leader for basketball?
I don’t want to dub myself anything, but I feel that responsibility and recognize the opportunity to try and help make an important decision for the good of the game. We have good partners among the committee members, with Craig Robinson at the NABC. So yes, I don’t shrink from that responsibility.
Gavitt has a unique position within college basketball that gives him a dominant voice in the sport. (Robert Deutsch / USA Today)
With the Pac-12 and the Ivy League postponing until Jan. 1, how will that affect the teams in those leagues in terms of their practice date start?
Decisions still have to be made by the Division I council for all of the sports, in terms of what’s in season, out of season, what a countable activity is. That hasn’t been determined yet. I’m quite certain that for now the Pac-12 will continue on as the rest of basketball would, with eight hours out-of-season work. What happens on Sept. 29, what they can do and cannot do, the Division I Council will make that decision. They met today, and they’ll meet again next week, but right now, they’re wrestling with the more immediate decisions around eligibility for fall sports, guaranteed scholarships. I don’t know when that will come down, but it has to be soon.
For the time being, they’ve said their first date of play is Jan. 1. You can start 42 days before then, but that could also change.
I saw that Division III did something interesting. They said you get 114 days over the course of the whole academic year. Will Division I have that sort of creative solution? Maybe.
How will the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee weigh the criteria for teams in the Pac-12 and Ivy, and any others that might change the start of their season?
We haven’t come to a final decision on that yet. We know where the challenges are and what the options would be. You make up for some of them likely with the loss of some of the metrics. Like the season itself, it’s important to acknowledge that it’s going to be imperfect. We can’t resolve all of the challenges. I will say this, we’ve got a great committee, a veteran committee, with one new member. They will do a great job regardless.
You’ve said previously that you believe there will be an NCAA Tournament in March. Why?
What gives me the greatest confidence about the tournament is we are seeing basketball being played safely in Orlando and Bradenton right now. Now, while we may not be able to replicate what the NBA and WNBA are doing exactly, we can take and learn from that experience and, if necessary, implement that in a tournament setting. That’s what gives me confidence for March Madness.
That’s a little more challenging during the regular season.
All that being said, that’s not our planning right now. Our planning is for a traditional format of the tournament, with the dates and sites as normal. We are going to have a Plan B, C and D, and we are far along in developing all of them. We are hopeful we’re not going to get there, but we are prepared.
In terms of the NCAA Tournament, if testing is still required, how will you handle that?
That will be our responsibility. We would be in charge of that.
Everybody talks about the finances of losing the tournament, but the need to go beyond that is more than just money, right? I mean in terms of the psyche of the players and coaches, and the continuity of the sport.
Correct. We absolutely have to play the tournament.
