With his players returning to campus for classes after a few weeks at home, Ohio State men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann ultimately remains confident in a season taking place.
No matter how different that season may be.
“I think the thing that we have to answer as a sport is what does our calendar look like now? We’re not on the traditional calendar- at least we don’t anticipate being on the traditional calendar,” Holtmann said Thursday on The Buckeye Show. “Because the reality is, I think the start date is probably going to get moved back.”
The Buckeyes are scheduled to open the season on Nov. 11 at home versus Oakland. In light of the Big Ten’s early postponement of fall sports and the uncertainty surrounding it, the head coach of the basketball Buckeyes said the conference has a particular adjusted start date in mind that allows basketball to be played in a safe environment.
“Using that window of Thanksgiving on to try to do competition, I think we would all love to see that as a possibility,” Holtmann said. “So, I don’t know that that’s going to be the start date, I just know that that has a lot of momentum among not just coaches, but certainly our athletes and administrators.”
Big Ten head coaches continue to meet every Thursday morning, which Holtmann said keeps everyone on the same page.
As mentioned, the post-Thanksgiving start date has been popular within the conference, with Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo sharing a similar outlook on a season late-fall season beginning.
Earlier this month, Izzo said he thinks basketball is in a better place than football thanks to the lack of students on campus during basketball season. He doubled down on that take last week in a radio interview with 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.
“If I had a son, which I do and he’s actually playing a little bit for me, I can’t think of any safer place than where we’ve spent the last six, seven weeks,” Izzo said of a campus without students.
The NCAA’s Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt has been on the side of playing, no matter what it looks like. Gavitt and the NCAA released a statement in preparation for the season, saying they have already developed “contingency plans for alternatives to the scheduled Nov. 10 start date.”
"I think it's very important for the game to have consensus," Gavitt said to ESPN last week. "I think it's important. This season and even the tournament will likely be imperfect."
No matter how imperfect any 2020-21 season is, Holtmann and his players are working towards that late start date with help from the university.
Holtmann said communication with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Ohio State’s medical experts has been great, and added that though there are “challenges” to the start of a season, the number of ideas being tossed around is encouraging.
As unfortunate as it is that campuses across the nation are shutting down just weeks into fall semester and sending students home, a college without most of its population provides a safer playing environment.
With the lack of students comes a better chance at completing a season.
“I know this- we would all support and very much be in favor of using that window of when the students return, because our guys were really safe here in the summer,” Holtmann said. “Students were not here, there were just less people around.”
Right now, less means more when it comes to college basketball's chances this year.
