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It took a COVID-19 outbreak to stop the Michigan men’s basketball team. The Wolverines, 13-1 and atop the Big Ten, will suspend the team’s activities for the next two weeks despite no known cases. What will this mean for a team with championship aspirations?
The university announced on Saturday evening that the entire athletics department would close in response to confirmed cases of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 within the department.
“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement, “but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we have to do whatever we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff and student-athletes from other schools.
The Michigan announcement cited a “decision” by the state’s health department “imposing a more aggressive strategy” for the COVID variant. It includes players, coaches and team staff, effective January 23, isolation and quarantine “until further notice and up to 14 days (February 7)”.
This means no games, no practices, no individual workouts.
If “up to 14 days” seems to open up the possibility of a return to competition sooner, it does not seem likely. For starters, the men’s basketball schedule on the track and field website says the next four games are “postponed.”
Michigan’s games at Penn State (Jan. 27), vs. Indiana (Jan. 30), Northwestern (Feb. 3) and vs. Michigan State (Feb. 6) will no longer go as planned. Michigan may not play again until they host Illinois on Feb.11.
The Wolverines were rolling. They beat Purdue on Friday 70-53 to go 8-1 in the Big Ten (Iowa is second at 6-2). All but one of the Michigan Big Ten wins are double digits; four were at least 17 points.
Michigan is # 3 on Monday’s NCAA NET rankings and will be close to that in the updated AP poll (UM is currently seventh there). NCAA tournament support projections rank Michigan as the No.1 seed.
There are only two teams in the country with attack and defense in the top 10, per kenpom.com: Baylor and Michigan.
Coaches and players, in general, have said they can lose an advantage when they go an extended period – a week or more, for example – without a game. Michigan will go two weeks without any team activity. When they return to the court, will the Wolverines be as sharp as they were in January?
It’s impossible to say. It’s also unclear how the Big Ten will handle Michigan’s schedule. Earlier this month, Penn State had a COVID outbreak and missed three games. Penn State played every other day for a week – four games over seven days – to compensate.
Michigan has some leeway at the end of February (four- and five-day non-game periods) to postpone postponed games.
Wolverines have been lucky so far when it comes to COVID issues. Head coach Juwan Howard said recently that there was only one positive test in the program, and that was in August, when the team was not even training. Earlier in the season, Michigan had a last-minute opponent trade, and the aforementioned Penn State game was originally scheduled for Jan.9. These are the only hiccups.
Purdue tested positive before Saturday’s game, but Michigan decided the risk was minimal.
This is not the case with this epidemic B.1.1.7. After the news broke on Saturday night, some Wolverines took to Twitter for one-word posts.
“Wow,” Hunter Dickinson wrote.
“Maaaaaaaaan,” posted Isaiah Livers, which included an angry face emoji.
Jace Howard simply wrote, “Pain”.
The threat of COVID has always been, to some extent, beyond our control. When an entire team is, presumably, healthy and has yet to shut down, the frustration is understandable.
Howard has placed a strong emphasis on health and safety throughout the season. He’s sailed this unprecedented season – the protocols, the uncertainty, the schedule changes – remarkably well. His motto: “Kiss the suck.” These latest news will test this philosophy.
In two weeks – hopefully – we’ll see how Michigan reacts.
More Michigan basketball content:
How Michigan basketball contradicts COVID and hopes for the best
Inside Isaiah Livers’ occasional dominance for Michigan basketball
‘We’re winning now’: Michigan transfers were the perfect additions
Brandon Johns Jr. Believes In Himself And Gives A Spark To Michigan
Pick your poison against Michigan basketball
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