GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Conference Carolinas Board of Directors unanimously agreed to officially start the conference basketball season in January of 2021.

The decision was made in the best interest of Conference Carolinas student-athletes, coaches and administrators due to the continued challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conference Carolinas men's and women's basketball teams will officially return to campus for practice for the start of league play on Dec. 28, 2020.

In addition, the conceptual start date of conference play is to be no earlier than Jan. 13, 2021. The Conference Carolinas Directors of Athletics are scheduled to meet in the near future to continue working on designing an updated conference basketball schedule for the spring of 2021.

All Conference Carolinas member institutions will have institutional discretion to compete in the fall 2020 semester against outside competition. Institutions also will have discretion on when to begin practices in the fall of 2020.

"The health and safety of our student-athletes and our men's and women's basketball coaching staffs continues to be our top priority," Commissioner Chris Colvin said. "This decision, like all of our decisions over the last few months, was challenging, but we feel it is also the right decision to continue to give all of our member institutions the best chance to have a truly successful conference basketball campaign."

The 2021 Conference Carolinas Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled to get underway with first round play on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. The quarterfinals (March 5), semifinals (March 6) and finals (March 7) will be held for the second straight year at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

"We are excited to see our teams back on the court in January competing and preparing for what we know will be another tremendous basketball championship at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in March of 2021," Colvin said.

Conference Carolinas is continuing to work to create safety protocols and precautions around intercollegiate athletics participation in the spring of 2021. The conference will also continue to work with its member institutions and the NCAA to monitor the latest local, state and federal developments.