Report: Nov. 25 and Dec. 4 are “likeliest” start dates for college basketball season

  • 08/27/2020 5:32 pm in

According to Jon Rothstein, two start dates have emerged as the “likeliest” start dates for the 2020-21 college basketball season.

Those dates are Wednesday, Nov. 25 and Friday, Dec. 4, according to a report published late Thursday afternoon by Rothstein, who covers college basketball for CBS Sports.

The current scheduled start date for the college basketball season is Tuesday, Nov. 10. Indiana has a contract to play NJIT on that date at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

In-person classes in Bloomington will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 21. In-person classes will not resume until Saturday, Feb. 8, 2021.

Last week, NCAA Senior VP Dan Gavitt released the following statement regarding a schedule for the 2020-21 season:

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.

Earlier this week, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported the NCAA was looking at four dates to start the season: Nov. 10, Nov. 20, Nov. 25 and Dec. 4.

If the season were to start on Nov. 25, practice would begin Oct.14 and with a start date of Dec. 4, practice would begin Oct. 24.

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