So far, so good for Wolfpack men’s basketball inside NCAA bubble
Adjusting on the fly will become a regular thing this season across college basketball.
Teams scheduled games but some of those games (as we’ve seen this season) will be canceled.
Another thing that fans have seen early this year has been “Bubbleville,” also known as the Mohegan Sun, a casino and resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. The venue has been hosting games since Nov. 25 and will conclude on Saturday.
N.C. State entered “Bubbleville” on Wednesday afternoon and blew out UMass Lowell, 90-59, in its debut on Thursday.
Unlike any road game the team has played before, the Wolfpack touched down in Connecticut around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the players took COVID-19 tests immediately and were sent to their rooms for the evening.
Not that it affected the team’s play. After trailing 3-0 early, the Wolfpack (3-0) went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. On the court, the team looked comfortable, in its element, even though its trip to Mohegan has been anything but routine.
First, with the game itself. The Pack was scheduled to play William & Mary on Monday in Raleigh. The Tribe had to cancel after a positive COVID-19 test within its program. N.C. State, which was coming to “Bubbleville” to play UConn on Saturday anyway, wanted to get an extra game in before that showdown.
So coach Kevin Keatts and his staff scrambled to get a game on the schedule and were close to having a team come into Reynolds on Wednesday night. When that fell through he made a call to Mohegan Sun to see if there was a local team that could come in on short notice and play. Problem solved.
“Our last option was waiting the entire week and playing UConn on Saturday,” Keatts said. “It ended up being a good situation for us. This is going to happen throughout the year.”
After the team got off the bus, the players took COVID-19 tests and quarantined in their rooms for the night. There was practice this morning and breakfast in a conference room, all while avoiding contact with any other teams at Mohegan Sun. There was even a guard on the floor to make sure no members of the team left their rooms.
According to N.C. State Sports Information Director Craig Hammel, the team has to be escorted by a host when they move from the gym to the conference room where they have meals. The team takes service elevators and back hallways throughout Mohegan Sun.
Keatts sees this as the only way to make sure games are played.
“The best situation for us is to be in a bubble,” Keatts said. “It’s more just you and your team; I think that’s a great thing. We’ve had to adjust to some of that, it’s a little different, but everything in 2020 is different.”
Once the ball was thrown up, it clearly didn’t bother the players. The Wolfpack shot 52 percent from the floor, knocked down a season-high 12 three-pointers and forced 19 turnovers in the 31-point win.
The NBA and WNBA spent months inside their own bubbles in the summer and fall, and while N.C. State will only be in Connecticut through Saturday, it had little issues adjusting.
“For us it’s a new experience, obviously, but it’s also a great blessing to just be back and be able to play,” junior forward Jericole Hellems said. “They provide great things for us so that we are able to play.”
Hellems scored 17 points in his second straight start. Devon Daniels, a senior forward, led the Wolfpack with 18 and said the time isolated has been a great opportunity for the team … aside from the culinary choices.
“We’ve been eating a lot of cold turkey and chicken sandwiches,” Daniels said. “Lunchables style, but it’s been nice. I can’t complain.”
Daniels said the bubble has felt like a normal road trip, not throwing the team off its routine too much.
“Anytime we can compete and play as a team,” Daniels explained, “It’s fine. We don’t really need much to go out there and hoop.”
The biggest adjustment so far, according to the fourth-year coach, has been not seeing anyone else other than his team since they arrived. They have their own elevator, their own room to eat and to practice.
“They’ve done such a great job because they’ve been doing this for two or three weeks,” Keatts said about the organizers of the event. “Give them credit because they pulled off something that most people couldn’t.”
Keatts said the team will test again before Saturday’s game at noon, but he wasn’t sure how many times. The team will get together as a group for meals, meet and go over game plans for the Huskies and practice.
“We don’t have anywhere else to go,” Keatts said. “I guess we are quarantined. Which is great. These guys are doing a great job and have done it the right way. I’m glad to have to quarantine because there are some teams that are not even playing.”
