Why Iona and Other College Basketball Teams Are Shutting Down for 2 Weeks

jimmaisano

The news broke on Thursday that the Iona College basketball team was shutting down for two weeks because a staff member got COVID.

Iona is not alone. There are posts on social media showing the following teams also shut down: UConn, Seton Hall, Minnesota, New Mexico, Canisius, Winthrop, Rider, Sacred Heart, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Fordham, Niagara, Marist, Albany and Siena, as well as lots of questions about why this is happening.

The answer is that the NCAA has published a “recommended” Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball – you can find it here: http://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/faq-principles-resocialization-collegiate-basketball-and-testing-considerations-all-sports

Here is a summary of why teams are shutting down:

When a Tier 1 individual tests positive, it is suggested that all other Tier 1 individuals quarantine as soon as the results are known for a period of 14 days, with contact tracing beginning immediately to determine who was subject to a high-risk exposure. This is the highest exposure tier and consists of individuals for whom physical distancing and face coverings are not possible or effective during athletic training or competition. Examples of relevant individuals include student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials.

It means that all Tier 1 individuals are immediately quarantined for 14 days, and that contact tracing would proceed to determine if all such individuals should remain in quarantine and if there are additional individuals who may have had a high-risk exposure to an infected individual.

My reading of these recommendations doesn’t seem to require that every player and coach must remain in quarantine for the full 14 days and can be released earlier based on the contact tracing process. Regardless, the Iona at Fordham opening game scheduled for November 25 will be cancelled and Iona’s three games at Mohegan Sun between November 29 and December 2 are also expected to be cancelled. These games would have been instrumental in helping Coach Pitino implement his new system for an entire team that has never played in it before and to help the team get ready for MAAC games starting in mid-December.

College and pro football are not playing under such stringent Covid protocols. For example, in the NFL players without symptoms can return to practice and games five days after testing positive if they test negative twice 24 hours apart. Coaches across college basketball are raising concerns about this questionable NCAA policy. Does it make sense to stop practice for players who are testing negative? Aren’t the players better off in the gym with coach supervision than looking for ways to fill their time during the shutdown? Coaches believe that it will be difficult to go directly into playing games after a two-week shutdown, and it may even lead to injuries.

It appears that the vast majority of Division 1 college basketball programs are still committed to playing the upcoming season (except the Ivy League), but it will certainly be a difficult road. And it will be expensive with estimates for the costs of testing athletes and staff to be in the area of $400,000, at the same time as revenues are disappearing without fans (or limited crowds) at games and because non Power 5 schools can no longer arrange “buy” games. There seems to be a consensus from coaches to the college basketball media that the NCAA needs to review and modify this Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball with more realistic protocols that still protect public health similar to other sports, but the NCAA has made no comment about doing this yet. Without such a policy change, it’s doubtful many teams will be able to complete their schedules.

Jim Maisano
CollegeHoopsChat@gmail.com