NCAA To Allow On Campus Workouts To Take Place During Month Of June

The NCAA put all of its sports on hold in the middle of March, another domino that fell as professional sports leagues put their seasons on hold. While most sports leagues opted to strictly suspend its season with the intention of finishing it at a later date, the NCAA opted to go a different route, canceling the remainder of all sports for the 2019-2020 school year. On Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Council made two decisions that could be the beginning of the return for college athletics at the start of the next school year.

The first decision made by the NCAA on Wednesday was that starting on June 1, football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams would be allowed to hold voluntary workouts on campus. This would be allowed for the entire month of June. In a statement, council chair M. Grace Calhoun said that is the start of the return to normalcy for college athletics. “We encourage each school to use its discretion to make the best decisions possible for football and basketball student-athletes within the appropriate resocialization framework,” Calhoun said.  “Allowing for voluntary athletics activity acknowledges that reopening our campuses will be an individual decision but should be based on advice from medical experts.”

The onus now falls on the individual conferences to allow for these workouts to take place, but this will be extremely helpful for teams to begin to get ready for the fall. The NCAA is supposed to decide on whether or not other sports will have this opportunity in the next week.

The second decision that the NCAA made Wednesday, or didn’t make, was that the NCAA delayed its vote regarding allowing one-time transfer players to immediately play for their new school. Typically, players who transfer would have to sit out one season prior to playing for their new schools, unless granted permission by the NCAA.

If the vote does pass, players in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and men’s ice hockey would not have to sit out for one season. In a statement, Calhoun said that the NCAA will take many things into consideration when voting on this rule. “The transfer environment has long been an issue of much discussion in Division I. The Division I Council is committed to a uniform and equitable approach to transfer rules that considers student-athlete well- being and the opportunities available after transfer. We will not simply change the rule, but we will consider a comprehensive package designed to address the multiple complexities involved.”

It is unclear as to when that decision will be made.