On March 12, NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt announced the cancellation of all remaining Winter and Spring Championships due to the concerns over coronavirus. This meant all the hard work these athletes had been putting in since June, would not be showcased during this year’s championships. Rather than dwelling on the negative, coaches and players of the collegiate basketball community used their creativity and positivity to carry them through this hard time. Teams are unable to meet in person, but continue to do their best to stay prepared for the 2020-2021 season.
Alvin Brooks II, University of Houston Men’s Assistant Basketball Coach, discussed one major loss of the season’s cancellation is the inability to attend the annual coaching convention that is held during the Final Four. Coach Brooks (II) explains “this is the first time in [his] 30+ years of coaching that the Final Four has been cancelled, and with that comes the loss of the coaching convention where coaches have the opportunity to work on their craft with each other”. This convention is something that several coaches look forward to as they can gain knowledge from their peers. While coaches across the nation are all at a loss, Baylor University Men’s Assistant Basketball Coach Alvin Brooks III, has taken matters into his own hands. Coach Brooks (III) created a virtual Zoom coaching clinic where coaches and athletic directors meet twice a week to discuss and educate each other on numerous topics ranging from mental health to their knowledge of the game. Coaches may not be able to meet physically with each other, but they are still able to learn more from each other through this virtual clinic.
While not being able to meet during this Spring term has been quite difficult for coaches, players are being heavily affected as well. The absence of sports can easily start to affect players physical and mental state. Coach Brooks (III) explained that “Baylor’s athletic director for mental services is communicating with [their] guys during this time to help them mentally, as players could quickly start to feel alone with the absence of basketball”. The mental aspect of the sport is huge, but the physical aspect is just as important. It is hard to stay in basketball shape with gyms not being open, but with the help of creativity, there are still ways to get work in at home. Sahvir Wheeler, University of Georgia point guard, discusses several innovative ways to stay in shape while at home. Wheeler explains, “our strength coach has been showing us ways to just creative with it, you can lift weights with gallons of waters or put textbooks in your book bag and go for a run […] we had never thought to do these things before, but due to the circumstances, we have learned to work with what we have”. Many players are not using this pandemic as an excuse to not get better, rather a time to come up with news ways to get better.
Several basketball teams may also feel like they are at a loss because they are usually building their team chemistry during this off-season period. Johnny Estelle, Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach, brought out the positivity of his players being home during time. Coach Estelle says, “[he’s] been encouraging everyone to learn more about themselves during this time” ,he’s also telling his players to, “use this as mental preparation time, study film from last season and critique yourself”. Estelle is using this time for each individual player to work on learning themselves first before the team can convene again. Casey Brooks, Texas A&M University-Kingsville point guard, stands by those points that Coach Estelle makes. Knowing that there’s not much a team can do to build chemistry being this far away, Brooks agrees that “each player working on their individual faults will ultimately help the team out as a whole when we do finally get to return again”. Teams are doing their best to stay prepared for this upcoming season.
While it is quite easy to pick out all of the negative outcomes the cancellation of the remainder of the season brought, it is uplifting to see several people of the collegiate basketball community using their creativity and positivity to rally through this tough time.
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