Date Set for College Basketball Season
Big Ten football officially returned as the conference announced competition will begin the weekend of October 23, but a busy Wednesday continued as the Division I Council voted that both men's and women's college basketball season is set to begin.
The NCAA has reportedly marked November 25 as the beginning of the college basketball season as Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported the NCAA council favored November 25 over November 21 start date. The news comes on the same day that Maryland men’s basketball was one of seven teams still temporarily suspended from training as a result of the latest round of COVID-19 testing on September 8.
"The new season start date near the Thanksgiving holiday provides the optimal opportunity to successfully launch the basketball season," NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said. "It is a grand compromise of sorts and a unified approach that focuses on the health and safety of student-athletes competing towards the 2021 Division I basketball championships." Jeff Goodman of Stadium also reported the Division I Council "also voted that 12 hours total (8 on the court) will begin Sept. 21" and added practice will start October 14 while games reduced by four to a max 27-game schedule.
Gavitt added an explanation into the council's decision to postpone tipoff two weeks, adding "by Thanksgiving week, the date of Nov. 25, 76% of all Division I schools will have either finished their fall semester completely or released the general student body for in-person instruction,"
Head coach Mark Turgeon and the Terps now move forward with more clarity this offseason as teams await an official announcement. An offseason filled with uncertainty has provided roadblocks for Turgeon and the Terps this offseason, but the inability to consistently practice together has complicated progression this offseason.
“There’s been a lot of challenges, obviously. Number one is just not being around each other for long periods of time and communication, things like that is a challenge,” Turgeon told All Terrapins in an exclusive interview. “We try and do a great job of seeing guys every day or talking to them on the phone, Facetiming them and things like that. They’re back in school right now but the athletic department, as you know, has been shut down for two weeks so we haven’t been able to see them. That’s good for them for school, they get a chance to just lock in and concentrate on school and hopefully get off to a good start.”
More details to come.
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