College basketball programs have not been able to host players on campus for visits for quite some time now, as the NCAA dead period has been delayed since the middle of March amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The dead period was originally extended through April 15th, but just like everything else that was affected by COVID, it has been continually extended.

Following the delay to April 15th, it was then extended to May 31st, followed by June 30th, July 31st, August 31st and then September 30th.

While there was at least a little bit of hope that the NCAA may stick to the most recent deadline of September 30th, nobody was surprised when they announced last Wednesday that the Division I Council has decided to extend the dead period through January 1st, the sixth delay amidst the pandemic.

“While the Council acknowledged and appreciates the growing desire to resume in-person recruiting by select coaches’ associations, Council members ultimately concluded the primary concern right now must be protecting the current student-athletes on our campuses,” Council chair M. Grace Calhoun said in an article from the ncaa.org.

While prospects have been conducting virtual visits and zoom interviews with coaches frequently over the last six months, several prospects have told me that the virtual visit process just simply doesn’t compare to being on campus, although they are grateful that they’re allowed to still get a look at campus in a way.

“The zoom calls are really different compared to being on campus,” 2022 Ohio State target Josiah Harris told BuckeyeGrove. “I like the zoom calls because a lot of these schools have been showing me their style of play and how they see me in their system, but going to campus is really fun because you get to feel the atmosphere of that college and just be there.”

“I mean, they’re cool,” said Gahanna junior point guard Sean Jones. “They aren’t that entertaining, but they’re smooth.”

The extended dead period has obviously slowed down the recruiting process of most top prospects, although some have sped up their process a bit due to the uncertainty of what lies ahead regarding exposure opportunities and chances to get on campus.

In regards to Ohio State, this will most likely cause the Buckeyes to continue recruiting the 2021 class throughout the entirety of this winter and spring, as they still have one scholarship remaining and are looking to round out an already elite class with one last prospect, most likely a big man.

The Buckeyes have been very active on the 2022 trail this summer and fall as well, as we are bound to see some more offers in that class this winter and possibly more prospects gaining interest in the Buckeyes come the time that they can visit campus, since most of them haven’t taken any official visits. Ohio State has even begun getting involved with several 2023 prospects, specifically in-state kids like Rayvon Griffith and Lawrent Rice, offering Griffith late last month.

RELATED: Nine New Names: 2022 offers the basketball Buckeyes dished out this summer

The Buckeyes are still in-play for 2021 big men Chet Holmgren, Efton Reid and Charles Bediako, however, due to this process, none of them have shown much interest in any specific school.

While Bediako has taken no official visits, Reid visited Virginia last November and Louisville back in February and Holmgren took a visit to Gonzaga last October.

Gonzaga is most likely the leader for Holmgren at this point as he would fit perfect into their system, it’s his only visit so far and his former high school teammate Jalen Suggs is an incoming freshman there, however, he has also said he doesn’t plan to narrow down his list anymore until the spring.

We won’t see Ohio State round out this class anytime soon, but it'll be interesting to see if they can land one of these three bigs when the dead period ends and more contact can be initiated, as it would most likely bolster them to the number one ranked class in the country.

While it’s unfortunate that the pandemic has had such an effect on prospects and programs, it will be interesting to see how things change when it comes time for kids to take visits again, as I’m sure many are eager to check out some specific schools and narrow down where they’ll further their journey at.