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The Iona College basketball program was on hold for two weeks after a graduate assistant tested positive for COVID-19. Rider put things on hold for two weeks because a player tested positive for the virus. Syracuse has shut down after coach Jim Boeheim and a player tested positive.
Now compare that to Gonzaga playing his Fort Myers Tip-off match against Auburn on Friday, despite one player and staff testing positive.
It’s not okay, is it?
Gonzaga did not break protocol. The tournament and the Florida Department of Health ruled that the player who tested positive only had one close contact, a teammate, and that the Zags could therefore play because everyone else had tested negative. Auburn had no problem playing the game as his medics gave the green light to the decision.
“That’s honestly why the non-conference is stupid, because everyone plays by different rules,” an assistant coach from a program that was closed for two weeks at The Post. “Each state has different rules. Each conference has different rules. If it doesn’t become uniform, it’s unfair. You get some teams with a major advantage. “
The NCAA decided not to enforce uniformity. He chose to simply offer a guideline, that a positive test for anyone at Level 1 – a player, coach, manager or staff member – should result in a 14-day break and a quarantine period. This was based on CDC regulations, but also allows schools to rely on local health protocols. In other words, the governing body of the sport has the power to implement rules that everyone must follow, but has instead left it to conferences, schools, local authorities and health officials.
The problem is that many conferences do not follow the guidelines. It’s not just Gonzaga. Michigan State and Baylor had their head coaches tested positive and did not stop training. Others did not take the suggested 14-day break after testing positive.
The Gonzaga situation, however, stands out as it involves players who test positive in season. The two players – Dominick Harris and Julian Strawther – weren’t on the bench on Friday, but both had appeared in the Zags’ game against Kansas on Thursday. The two were in a no-mask team celebration in the locker room after the big win over the Jayhawks which was posted to social media – and later deleted. The two were on a cross-country flight with teammates just a few days ago.
“What does a Florida health official see differently from what we’ve been told?” a sporting director asked, speaking on condition of anonymity. “That’s not how we would handle it at all. We would have stopped, isolated and left time for the search for contracts to continue. It is not a one hour decision.
Once word got out, the athletic director said he heard from a number of industry administrators trying to figure out how the game was being played. He found it “impossible to believe” that the Gonzaga player who tested positive only had one tight contract.
A mid-level head coach, whose team has yet to test positive since training began but has had games called off due to the shutdown of opponents, was not so politically correct . He called the decision to play “bull” and “reckless behavior”.
It could get worse, if it is revealed that other Gonzaga players have the virus, and if they gave it to anyone on Auburn or in Kansas the night before. This is how the virus is spread.
“We tested too, so you’re doing your best, and I’m happy that we worked together and started the game, and I hope no one gets infected,” Auburn coach said, Bruce Pearl.
Hope is not a plan. It’s a bad excuse for a bad decision.
Meanwhile, several programs have been shut down for less than what’s happening with Gonzaga. These schools seem to understand what the experts have said, that someone can test negative and not show symptoms, while still being able to pass the virus on to others, as the incubation period can last up to ‘to 14 days, according to the CDC.
Not everyone seems to understand this. Playing college basketball during a pandemic is a risk. The risk of not being safer is even greater.
“A player [testing positive] must shut down your team, ”said the mid-major head coach.
The NCAA and its members have the power to create a set of rules for the virus to avoid confusion and to create consistency. He chose not to. And the result could endanger this makeshift season.
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