Although the Great American Conference announced its intention to have sports this fall, league commissioner Will Prewitt admitted that the decision was ultimately out of his hands.
During a Zoom meeting held Friday afternoon, Prewitt admitted that while the GAC Council of Presidents decided unanimously to delay fall practice to Aug. 31 and competition to Sept. 28, the NCAA has yet to make any decisions regarding Division II sports restarting this fall.
"These decisions are pending the calls made by NCAA Division II governance as well as the NCAA Board of Directors about the status of the NCAA Division II fall championships," he said. The primary focus of the GAC council of presidents and the GAC council of athletic administrators is to find a safe way to conduct a meaningfully competitive fall for student-athletes, coaches and campus communities. We will track on guidance from the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), regional health experts, the NCAA, outside consultants and campus medical professionals as we evaluate conditions into the fall."
Prewitt said that while 13 of the 23 NCAA Division II conferences plan to move forward and compete this fall, they are waiting to learn from the NCAA Division II championship committee about how fall championships will proceed. The committee met Friday morning, but according to a statement the NCAA released Friday afternoon from president Mark Emmert, that while the committee discussed whether or not to go forward with fall championships, "We will continue our discussions in August."
"We really need to know on what direction we can go with our schedules, be it we try to wrap it up in the fall, be it the uniqueness of a spring NCAA championship, which could lead to a split GAC season," Prewitt said. "(There are) lots of unique strange things, that would certainly be among the strangest, but frankly, that's something I'm very excited about. Some of the leagues that conceivably would only play in the spring. ... We're optimistic that even if we go into the spring that we would still be able to retain the Live United Bowl in Texarkana for our top team not selected for the playoffs."
The GAC's decision mirrors that of the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Assocation, which has won four of the past nine NCAA Division II football national championships, setting the Aug. 31 practice and Sept. 28 competition dates last Monday.
Earlier this month, the Mountain East Conference determined that its teams would start football practices Aug. 17 and all other fall sports on Aug. 24, while competitive play would begin as early as Sept. 10. Other Division II organizations, including the the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference have suspended competition entirely throughout the fall.
Prewitt also noted that one of the issues that has risen to the forefront for collegiate athletics is the guideline set forth by the NCAA that says athletes should be tested 72 hours before competition.
"I've had so many conversations that involve the word test that I busted my 8-year-old because she brought up the word test, and I said, 'Don't use those four-letter words around me right now,'" he said with a laugh. "Seriously, that's really a huge piece. ... I'm not sure that there's anybody in America, and I think that you even see members of the NCAA Sports Science Institute, that will say that that's not feasible at this moment. One of the things that we're really hoping is when (NCAA chief medical officer) Dr. (Brian) Hainline spoke to the commissioners last week, hope that testing becomes more readily available, that it becomes cheaper. That's where we stand right now. It's a huge obstacle not only in cost, but in practicality."
The practicality of the situation is not limited to the GAC or other Division II schools, Prewitt said, noting that some Division I schools are having issues getting results back quickly.
"I've heard from major Division I schools that have teaching hospitals as part of their campus, and they can't feasibly get a test back in less than five or six days," he said. "So when when I talk about and we have a high mountain to climb between now and Sept. 28 to compete testings, obviously one of those big pieces, and a lot of that's out of our control."