In a renewed push to postpone the start of the 2020-21 college basketball season, Rick Pitino is calling for the NCAA to hold its national tournament in May rather than March as COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the United States.
The Iona head coach also suggested in a tweet Saturday that schools should stick to a league-only schedule to safely carry out a season.
Save the Season. Move the start back. Play league schedule and have May Madness. Spiking and protocols make it impossible to play right now.
ā Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) November 14, 2020
Several programs have been disrupted recently by the pandemic, with the season still scheduled to tip off on Nov. 25. Pitino's own team was shut down for two weeks on Thursday due to a positive test within the program.
On Friday, the Ivy League became the first Division I conference in the country to cancel all winter sports for the upcoming season, including basketball.
This isn't the first time Pitino called for pushing back the start of the 2020-21 season. In July, the 68-year-old advocated for a January start date in the hopes of buying more time for a vaccine to be readily available.