As the UNF Arena continues to lie empty, athletes and staff are looking for answers and solutions regarding the future of competitive play. While fall ASUN competition has been pushed to the spring, college basketball has entered the room as next in line for big news.

In late March of 2020, the world of U.S. sports came to a standstill when COVID-19 hit close to home and forced cancellations of every major sports league. As the March Madness basketball tournament was just about to begin, hoopers had their stories and seasons cut short with no further activity. 

As our Osprey hoopers return to the practice courts, Coach Driscoll and the team are preparing for a season amid uncertain times with a fresh mindset.

“In my opinion, I think there’s a lot of positives,” Driscoll mentioned, “I think we’ll really be able to manage and move forward so i’m very optimistic.”

Optimism was what Driscoll spoke a lot about as COVID-19 has forced many colleges to go online and forced the postponement of the 2020 ASUN fall athletic season.

Volleyball, soccer, and cross country will not be able to compete this upcoming fall but men’s basketball is a winter sport which is not affected by the recent postponement. Coaches around the U.S. realize the importance of having men’s basketball being played for personal development reasons and financial burden.

Driscoll noted the importance of a recent press conference which included Duke men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski .

“When Coach K spoke, everybody was listening to what he said,” Driscoll Explained “What he said very clearly was that 98 percent of the NCAA is funded through mens basketball”

The cancellation of the March Madness tournament in early April caused more than $375 million in losses for the N.C.A.A. According to Coach K, the NCAA cannot afford to have that happen twice in a row. While a bubble has worked for the NBA and WNBA, there is still uncertainty as to whether collegiate sports can entertain that idea.

While next year’s tournament has not been cancelled, the public still has no solid idea as to when the season will start and what will happen. Although an interesting point Driscoll brought up was a start date two weeks later than expected.

Thanksgiving usually brings a week off for students and some colleges across the country are going fully online after the break. Driscoll shared the idea of a Thanksgiving start date as it would give athletes less contact with others on-campus. 

While this idea is in early stages and may never hit the dance floor, Driscoll still stresses the importance of being open-minded individuals during this pandemic.

“We as human beings have to be smarter,” said Driscoll, “We can’t just stay with the same policy if there’s different medical breakthroughs that come about, and we should go with what they tell us.”

While there is still much time left before the men’s basketball season is planned to start, remaining vigilant and following local guidelines is the plan for athletics and the public as COVID-19 remains a threat.

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