NCAA addresses COVID-19 guidelines, basketball scheduling

(AP) — The NCAA has updated its pandemic-related protocols for winter sports athletes and teams to follow updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The biggest recommendation is a booster for those who are beyond two months of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, five months of receiving the Pfizer or six months of receiving the Moderna vaccine.

The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball committees also issued a joint statement encouraging schools to adhere to conference policies when scheduling replacement games or rescheduling postponed games and that coach and player absences would be taken into account when teams are evaluated for inclusion in the national tournaments.

Statement

“As we typically do, the men’s and women’s basketball committees will track on player and coach availability via the conference monitoring program, which is an invaluable part of the evaluation process for both championships. Losses are still losses, and wins are still wins, but we will continue taking into consideration the absence of a coach or players, whether they are COVID-related or due to injury or suspension. We therefore encourage teams to honor conference-developed scheduling and rescheduling policies when the appropriate number of safe and healthy players and coaches are available to compete. Additionally, our committees will continue to monitor the impact of scheduling disruptions and consider championship eligibility requirements as necessary when the committees meet at the NCAA Convention in two weeks.”

Tom Burnett, Division I Men’s Basketball Committee chair and Southland Conference commissioner; and Nina King, Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chair and Duke athletics director