As both women’s and men’s college basketball get into full swing, the NCAA has issued a statement on how it will deal with scheduling disruptions.
The statement was issued by Nina King, D-I women's basketball committee chair and Duke athletics director, and Tom Burnett, D-I men’s committee chair and Southland Conference commissioner.
"As we typically do, the men's and women's basketball committees will track on player and coach availability via the conference monitoring program, which is an invaluable part of the evaluation process for both championships,” the statement reads. “Losses are still losses, and wins are still wins, but we will continue taking into consideration the absence of a coach or players, whether they are COVID-related or due to injury or suspension. We therefore encourage teams to honor conference-developed scheduling and rescheduling policies when the appropriate number of safe and healthy players and coaches are available to compete. Additionally, our committees will continue to monitor the impact of scheduling disruptions and consider championship eligibility requirements as necessary when the committees meet at the NCAA Convention in two weeks."
The statement comes as the NCAA updates its COVID-19 guidance for winter sports.
Among other recommendations to member schools, the association suggested that schools should amend the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include those athletes who had received their booster shot.
