A vote by the NCAA Division I Council has cleared the way for football and men’s and women’s basketball players to return to college campuses at the beginning of June.

The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports and is the first step in what figures to be several on the pathway to sports potentially returning this fall.

The decision has given players the ability to participate in voluntary athletic activities in those sports at the turn of the month, but it won’t be as simple as just flipping the calendar and getting started. That is because while the NCAA has allowed for it to occur, it does not mean that it immediately will.

The Big 12 Conference has a current ban on all team activities until May 31, but with that date approaching the league will decide on how to proceed in June.

Clearly things won’t proceed forward until that date is established but could the league look at a safer approach on say perhaps June 15? That remains to be seen but will be determined in the coming days as that initial cutoff is almost upon us.

Could that mean returning to campus immediately? Likely not, but we are at least approaching a tangible date for when that could occur in theory. That is certainly an improvement over the status quo.

This will be a multi-pronged approach with not only individual universities and conferences determining dates but local and state government working together to determine when that could occur. That last part is especially important because the NCAA allowing for it and it being cleared by individual governments or universities are clearly two very different things.

A portion of that is going to depend primarily on the availability and frequency of testing which could make things interesting when it comes to welcoming back students for voluntary activities.

Sources indicated to Yahoo that those decisions are going to be determined by individual schools and political decision makers in those different areas.

But even when a decision is made it is likely to come in waves with those students that remained on campus likely being integrated first and then working back to those that didn’t elect to stay. That could lead to smaller groups split among those that remained on campus and then working that total up over time as more players return to their respective schools.

While college football season is set to open Aug. 29, West Virginia does not have their first week until the following weekend. This move certainly doesn’t ensure that college football will be played but it is a step in the direction to ensure that could happen with a date set for when players could return.

As Thamel indicated in his report, this is more like a step than a leap toward players being back on campus, but a step forward is a step, nonetheless.

It remains to be seen what the fall will eventually look like and if fans will even be in the stands if the games do resume but dates give something to look forward to.

That is what we’re doing now – looking forward to the possibility that a potential return could be on the horizon, at least in regards to the players back on campus, sooner than we all initially believed.

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