Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim says that waiting until early next year to start the 2020-21 season is not the right move.
Don’t count Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim as among those who think that the 2020-21 campaign should get delayed until after the calendar year flips because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
His former assistant, current Iona head coach and two-time national champion Rick Pitino, has opined that the NCAA should push back the upcoming term and begin it in January of 2021, with teams then only suiting up for conference contests. Boeheim isn’t in the same camp as Pitino on this topic.
Kevin Willard, the head coach at former Big East Conference foe Seton Hall, told the New York Post in an interview that he believes waiting until Jan. 1 of next year to get hoops going is a mistake.
Boeheim sent out this tweet in response to the New York Post article. “Coach Willard has this 100% right. Playing games in November and December is the correct action plan for college basketball.”
Coach Willard has this 100% right. Playing games in November and December is the correct action plan for college basketball. https://t.co/MiaSzGNI8E
— Jim Boeheim (@therealboeheim) July 18, 2020
I’ve said more than once that if nixing the non-conference slate enables a 2020-21 stanza to more feasibly happen, I’m in favor of it, but Willard makes some really excellent points.
"“Every school has said after Thanksgiving there will be no one on campus, so why would we not take advantage of having no one on campus? It’s almost like being in a bubble and being able to have almost no interaction with any of the students. It’s probably the safest time to play,” Willard told The Post. “Sitting back and waiting for flu season and waiting for kids to come back on campus is idiotic.”"
The Seton Hall head coach suggested in the story that the Big East commence its campaign in November and play a league-only stanza of about 26 duels. I could get on board with that for Syracuse basketball and its fellow Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.
Under such a scenario, could the Orange host Duke inside the Carrier Dome at least five times? All kidding aside, Boeheim’s tweet doesn’t provide further details about whether he would like to have a non-conference docket or just suit up for ACC clashes.
As always, safety has to come first, but Willard and Boeheim have put forth an interesting perspective that officials with the ACC and the Big East are undoubtedly considering.