Reports: NCAA Approves Voluntary Football, Basketball Activities Starting June 1
May 20, 2020, 2:55 PM
Utah Utes wide receiver Britain Covey (18) practices at the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 5, 2020. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NCAA Division I Council approved voluntary athletic workouts for football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball beginning June 1, according to multiple reports.
The NCAA reportedly voted on Wednesday, May 20, to approve student-athletes to return to campuses for voluntary workouts through the month of June.
Final say on the matter will reportedly be left up to individual schools and conferences.
“There had been a moratorium on that through May 31st,” tweeted Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.
Sources: The NCAA Division I Council voted to approve voluntary athletic activities in football, MBB and WBB to start June 1st and go through June 30th. There had been a moratorium on that through May 31st. Other sports will be acted on on a later date.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 20, 2020
Additional sports will reportedly be addressed in a future NCAA Division I Council vote “within the next week”.
Sources: The NCAA Division I Council is expected to address the sports other than football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball within the next week. https://t.co/KY1rBDlUVz
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 20, 2020
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On Friday, May 15, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said that June 1 “is really looking like the opportunity” when the University of Utah could reopen athletic facilities.
Harlan discussed the timeline to get student-athletes back on campus for volunteer workouts with former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt during the “Schools & Sports – When and How Do Large Groups Return?” forum broadcast via the U of U Executive Education YouTube account.
“We are approaching a really exciting time. June 1 for the NCAA is really looking like the opportunity where we could reopen our athletic facilities,” Harland said. “We’ve been working very hard on that. So once we get the students back and they start working on a volunteer basis with our strength coaches, I think we’ll begin the process, so to speak, of bringing them back.”
Getting student-athletes back on campus for voluntary workouts is a step in the right direction for college football to take place this fall and some Harlan said is the first step in the process.
“The first step in all of that, of course, is getting our student-athletes back on campus,” Harlan said. “Not only at the University of Utah but elsewhere and really trying to figure out how many weeks does a young man need to be prepared to come back for a football game.”
According to Harlan, the current national standard for getting football players ready for a game is “around six weeks.”
