NOTE: This is part of the column I wrote very early Friday morning for the April edition of Basketball Times.
LAGUNA NIGUEL – When things are back to “normal” – or whatever fits the definition in a post-COVID-19 world – here are some things that NCAA officials and presidents/athletic directors from the organization’s affiliated universities should consider:
*Men’s and women’s basketball players who were “seniors” during the 2019-20 season and whose teams were still scheduled to be involved in conference tournament action upon the shutdown of the season will be granted extended eligibility into the 2020-21 season, with “full-scholarship” status.
Also included in that pool of athletes are those from programs that had already qualified for NCAA tournaments spots (in the west, among men’s programs, Utah State and Gonzaga).
*As for the NCAA Division I-maximum of allowable “student-athletes” on scholarship (13 for men and 15 for women during an academic year), those totals will be waived by the organization for 2020-21 but extended only by the total number of “repeat-seniors” remaining on scholarship.
This will account for the newcomers who had previously signed national letters of intent/scholarship agreements or had made “commitments” that had been “promoted” (a better verb escapes me right now) on social media – and, through the university’s athletic department leadership, “confirmed” – set to enroll for the 2020-21 season.
*Programs that had already “qualified” for the 2020 NCAA Tournament (winning conference tournaments or Yale, “designated” by the Ivy League as its automatic qualifier), or, in the case of conference tournaments that hadn’t started or been completed, “regular-season champions” will be “grandfathered” into the 2021 tournament field.
Obviously, there will be considerable overlap with programs that quality, on the court, for the 2021 tourney spots.
But these suggestions will still necessitate extending the fields from 68, likely requiring more “First Four”-type games (traditionally played on Tuesday and Wednesday) and/or incorporating “byes”.
There are a whole lot of bright people working for the NCAA’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship committees.
I’m sure they can figure this thing and help provide the “NCAA Tournament experience” – sorry, March Madness has taken on a whole different meaning right now – for the athletes, coaches, family members and program “communities” deprived of it in 2020.
And – as if an “ulterior motive” is needed – the “good will” created for the NCAA if it carries through with some form of these suggestions will be immense considering all the high-profile “hits” it has taken, of late and throughout much of the organization’s history.
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