South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley doubts the college basketball season will start on time

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, whose team is expected to take first place in the preseason, said she is preparing for a start of the season by November 10. But she has doubts.

“In my gut, do I feel like we’re going to start in November?” Staley said. “No, I don’t know. But I think we will have a season. When that start date comes, I don’t know. We still don’t have many answers, but a lot of questions.”

NCAA Vice President Dan Gavitt said on Monday that Division I men’s and women’s basketball supervisory committees will continue to study the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic and will announce in mid-September a decision on the possible change the start date of the season.

For Staley, the uncertainty goes beyond his Gamecocks, which finished last season in first place in the ranking. She is also a coach for the United States women’s team. This team played qualifying displays and tournaments during the winter, but now it has nothing firm in the books in terms of preparing for the 2021 Olympics after the end of the WNBA playoffs in October.

“As soon as we can see what we are going to do with the college season, we will probably bring the group here in Columbia and hopefully create some kind of bubble,” said Staley of the national team. “But we really have nothing now, because everything is very much in the air.”

Regarding the bubbles, Staley said he would support having them at the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments if that were deemed necessary. NCAA President Mark Emmert raised that possibility last week.

“I have ex-players in the WNBA bubble, as well as looking at the NBA bubble,” said Staley. “It is contained and both are setting an example of how we can move sports forward.”

Staley said that none of his players have yet expressed interest in being left out next season, as several football players have done, because of the concerns of COVID-19. But she said it could become a problem for college athletes in sports other than football.

“I think we haven’t arrived with any of our team yet. But if we get there. I understand perfectly, I understand,” said Staley. “We said, ‘If you feel insecure, if you don’t feel you can go through this without risking your health, you can go home and keep your scholarship.’ We already had that kind of conversation. “

Staley said his players have so far said they wanted to play and are very committed to safety precautions. She said a player recently texted her, worried that the other students she met were not wearing masks.

“Our players are taking this very seriously,” she said. “They are taking each other’s responsibility for ensuring that everyone follows our protocol.”