Pac-12 plans to continue supporting athletes through canceled fall season

The Pac-12 decided on Tuesday to postpone the fall sports schedule until at least Jan. 1, 2021. That means for now every team on campus will only be able to have workouts and possibly practice until that time, including the football and basketball teams.

It's a blow to college athletes and fans, but it is the reality thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has now impacted two separate academic years.

For athletes the uncertainty about what happens next remains, but the Pac-12 certainly wants to stress that everything will be done to help them through what is going to be a unique several months.

In its release announcing the decision by the Pac-12 CEO Group to postpone the fall sports season, the league made it known that it will continue to honor the scholarships of players that decide to opt out of the upcoming season because of health concerns.

"The student-athletes that will be impacted by this, I want to be clear, are going to have their scholarships guaranteed," the Pac-12's commissioner Larry Scott said during Tuesday's post-announcement media webinar. "We're going to strongly encourage the NCAA to support that with some of their upcoming decisions as well when it comes to eligibility, time to complete degrees and other related academic issues."

The NCAA granted an extra season of eligibility to spring sports athletes who had their season canceled earlier in the year at the onset of the outbreak. Scott and the Pac-12 hope to see the same now that the league has decided to postpone the fall season.

"We are strongly encouraging the NCAA to make decisions as quickly as possible to extend eligibility for student-athletes," Scott said. "We saw it happen in the spring and we're going to put our shoulder completely behind supporting our student-athletes if they don't get to play a season to get another year back."

Teams will continue to get to utilize that 20-hour window each week to continue preparations for the upcoming spring season giving coaches a bit more access to their players than they had earlier in the summer but it will be left up to the schools and local health officials to decide what the next steps will be in the process.

Previously training camp for the fall football season across the league was set to begin Aug. 17, but there is certainly a hope that teams will have an opportunity to get back on the practice field at some point in the coming weeks and months.

"To clarify, competition wouldn't be restarted until Jan. 1," Scott said. "In terms of sports and continuing to support student-athletes in terms of their training, their workouts, every school will decide exactly what that means, but sports I expect is going to continue and support is going to continue.

"And subject to medical guidance, when we can, it may ratchet up even to training with contact at some stage if the conditions warrant it."

Arizona's fall semester is set to begin Aug. 24 and in line with that the athletics program will continue to move forward with its reentry plan that started back in June and was halted for several weeks after a spike in positive COVID-19 cases in Pima County.

UA has been one of the positive stories in the Pac-12 when it comes to its coronavirus protocols, and that has helped the school avoid an outbreak among its athlete population despite the state being a recent hotspot for the virus.

"Our athletics department will continue its comprehensive re-entry planning in collaboration with campus and community partners, the NCAA and the Pac-12 Conference," UA's athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement Tuesday. "We remain committed to the safe and healthy return to campus and competition as well as protecting the health of the entire Wildcat Family.”

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