The Big Ten conference has officially canceled fall football this year, so it is fair to wonder if basketball will meet the same fate. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo does not see that happening.
During an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Friday, Izzo said he is “100 percent” confident there will be college basketball this year. He believes there is plenty of time between now and the scheduled start of the season in November to get the proper health and safety protocols in place.
“I think there’s a lot of things that are going to happen. Ours is a little easier to manage,” Izzo said. “One, I don’t know why, I just think there will be a vaccine. I think the testing, you hear about the saliva test that the NBA and I think the NFL is using isn’t quite FDA approved but it’s getting close. I think there’s a lot of things that could change in the weeks to come and hopefully that’ll advance us and we get a chance to learn.”
Izzo said he is comfortable with where Michigan State is at since players returned to campus last month. He feels there is no safer place for athletes at the moment.
“If I had a son, which I do, and he’s actually playing a little bit for me, I can’t think of any safer place than where he spent the last six, seven weeks,” Izzo added. “We tested every week, we quarantined, we educated and supported.”
Three of the major football conferences are still planning to play football this fall. If that ends up happening, college basketball will have a better chance of proceeding as scheduled. We saw from the way Big Ten football coaches reacted to their fall season being canceled that they ultimately don’t have a ton of influence, so the same will likely be true for Izzo and his colleagues.
