As the calendar shifts to May, it does not appear that we are any closer to a return of collegiate athletics as fans look at individual schools and conferences for cues as to when things may open up.
The Big Ten Conference came out on Monday morning and announced that it is going to be some time longer before business will reopen in the world of B1G athletics as the league extended its suspension of all organized team activities through June 1st, 2020. This extends a previous suspension that was supposed to run through May 4th.
The Big Ten Conference announced today that it will extend the previously announced suspension of all organized team activities through June 1, 2020, and will re-evaluate again at that time.
This is an additional measure to the previously announced cancellation of all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year. The Conference also has previously announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.
The Big Ten Conference will continue to use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps relative to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus.
There will not be a one-size fits all approach to reopening things, many believe. This is something that will have to have on the university and conference level, not on a NCAA-wide level.
The University of Iowa made news last week when school president Bruce Harreld made statements optimistic toward resuming activities in June, which would include preparation for the 2020 football season on-campus.
While nobody knows what the roadmap will look like, including what a return-to-play schedule may entail, it does appear that there are some motions being put into place of schools making plans to have students return for the fall academic term, barring a major shift in reported cases of the COVID-19 virus.
Ohio State held its spring commencement on Sunday virtually as thousands of graduates took part in a ceremony over mobile devices.
This June 1 date would also mean that Ohio State’s summer enrollees for the football signing class would have to wait to arrive in Columbus before some sort of all-clear is called.
It the world of B1G athletics would resume in the start of June, it would still allow for potential June official visits in football for the class of 2021, with June 12th being circled as a big date at Ohio State. For now, that is still a wait-and-see proposition.
Time will tell what the exact plans for Ohio State will look like for the fall semester but there is a widespread belief that athletic competition and students on campus will be linked hand-in-hand.
We will continue to update the latest on this as more becomes available.
