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The Pac-12 announced that it would allow for “voluntary in-person athletic workouts for all sports� to begin June 15. That decree came with a caveat that the workouts are “subject to the decision of each individual campus and where permissible by relevant governmental entities.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats athletic director Dave Heeke said the school would take the Pac-12’s announcement into consideration.

“ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Athletics’ re-entry team of medical and operational staff have been working in partnership with campus partners to evaluate and define re-entry strategies for the last month,â€� Heeke said in a statement. “Our team will consider the recommendations and options given our developing safety protocols, and we will discuss the possibilities with the university’s Re-Entry Task Force and President (Robert C.) Robbins. A comprehensive plan for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Athletics to safely return to campus will be developed based on those discussions.â€�

Football workouts typically begin in early June, with training camp opening in late July. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is scheduled to start the 2020 season Aug. 29.

In men’s basketball, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is not expected to resume on-campus workouts until July. The Wildcats also have four international recruits who might face coronavirus-related delays in getting to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

The NCAA allows athletes to have up to eight weeks of instruction over the summer, and UA football and basketball players typically take the maximum.

In normal years, some of the Wildcat basketball players are around for one of the early summer academic sessions, doing individual or small-group work over that time, while the entire team is usually on hand for all of July. But Ryan Reynolds, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s director of basketball operations, said he could not estimate how many weeks of total instruction the Wildcats will have on campus this summer.

“We’re still not planning on anyone being back in June,� Reynolds said Tuesday. “As of right now, at least for us, it’s all up in the air.�

Guidelines, protocols

The league’s decision came during a meeting of the Pac-12 CEO Group on Tuesday and in consultation with the league’s Medical Advisory Committee. The NCAA previously had opened the door for voluntary on-campus workouts to begin as early as June 1. In March, the Pac-12 suspended organized team activities through May 31.

“As educational institutions, our highest obligation is to the health and welfare of our students, faculty, and staff,� Philip DiStefano, the Pac-12 CEO Group’s chair and Colorado chancellor, said in a statement. “As we considered the pros and cons of taking steps that can pave a path to returning to play, those considerations were foremost, guided by the advice of our own medical experts along with public health officials.�

Said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott: “The Pac-12 is committed to the well-being of our student-athletes, and the decision to allow for voluntary workouts, subject to a determination by each school, is guided by the advice of our medical experts and will be supported by the detailed protocols established by our medical advisory committee in concert with our campuses’ own safety guidelines.

“As states have either already opened or begin to open up access to parks, gyms and other training facilities, student-athletes should have the option at this time to be in, what for many, will be a much safer environment on campus, where they can have access to the best available health, well-being and training support.�

The Pac-12 also released an extensive set of guidelines and protocols regarding a return to campus and associated athletic activities, adding that “each university will develop its own health and safety plan� consistent with the COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee’s recommendations “along with relevant state and local public-health guidance.� They include:

• Having no known COVID-19 contact for 14 days before returning to campus

• If flying to campus, isolating for seven days before returning to the athletic facility

• Being symptom free and undergoing a pre-participation evaluation

• Setting up a contract-tracing system

• Wearing face coverings at all times

• Undergoing temperature checks before admitted into facilities

• Working out in small groups and cleaning equipment between each individual use

• Maintaining physical distancing

• Encouraging athletes to shower at home

• Having only pre-packaged, to-go meals available in the facility

• Quarantining individuals with infection or suspected infection for at least 13 days

Kickoff times delayed

Meanwhile, it what seemed like a potentially ominous sign for college football in 2020, the powers-that-be announced earlier Tuesday that they had agreed to extend the deadline for announcing the early-season TV schedule past the usual June 1 target date.

Normally around this time of year, conferences announce kickoff times and network assignments for non-conference games. With the ’20 season up in the air because of the coronavirus pandemic, those reveals are being pushed back.

The networks and FBS conferences, including the Pac-12, issued the following joint statement:

“Collectively, the conferences and television networks have agreed to an extension for determining college football’s early-season game times beyond the standard June 1 deadline. These kickoff times and network designations will be announced at a later date as we all continue to prepare for the college football season.�

No clear path forward has been established for college football, although multiple contingencies have been discussed. They include an on-time start, a delayed start, a conference-only format and pushing the season to winter/spring of 2021.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is slated to open the season Aug. 29 at home against Hawaii. Its other non-conference games are at home against Portland State on Sept. 5 and at Texas Tech on Sept. 19. The UA is scheduled to host Stanford on Sept. 12.