UNC basketball game will have ‘greater enforcement’ as COVID-19 outbreaks continue
Tuesday night in the Dean E. Smith Center, North Carolina fans will get a reminder that the pandemic is not over during the men’s basketball game against Appalachian State.
Wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth won’t just be a suggestion, it will be enforced. As much as things seemed to return to normal with crowds upwards of 19,000 back to watch the Tar Heels play, recent COVID-19 outbreaks issued a not-so-subtle reminder that we’re not clear of the pandemic.
It’s not just in Chapel Hill either. Boston College took an added step and requires spectators for all sports on its campus to either show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test within the previous 72 hours of the event they seek to attend.
COVID-19 outbreaks thanks to the Omicron variant have sparked a renewed vigor nationally and on every level of sports in combating the virus, as programs and franchises again face depleted rosters and schedule changes.
UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham sent out an email to the athletic department’s coaches and staff saying they have to return to the “best mitigating factors that we can” much like last season to combat the spread of the virus.
“So we have to mask more often, we have to separate a bit more, we have to travel a little bit differently — we’re back to where we were,” Cunningham told The News & Observer. “The other thing that we’re going to change by Tuesday, we’re gonna have to have greater enforcement in the arena. It hasn’t been very good.”
Cunningham said arena staff did a great job at entry points reminding fans to keep their masks on, but once seated, enforcement was more or less left to an honor code.
Five ACC schools have already had their schedules altered by COVID-19 with Louisville being the latest on that list. The Cardinals announced on Monday they were suspending men’s basketball activities due to multiple positive COVID tests. They’re calling Wednesday’s game against rival Kentucky a postponement, but with conference play beginning it may be too difficult to reschedule.
UNC coach Hubert Davis said last season should give a blueprint on how to navigate a landscape that is quickly changing due to the Omicron variant.
“Being flexible in terms of schedule, being flexible in terms of who you play, when you play them and where you play,” Davis continued, “is something that unfortunately, with the experience of last year, all of us should be accustomed to.”
Scheduling is near the top of concerns Cunningham said the league’s athletics directors will address during its conference call Wednesday. He said he didn’t think putting the season on pause would be an option, but added they will also have to discuss the forfeit policy and re-visit testing.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the Blue Devils’ beat Elon on Saturday that he favored returning to testing before and after games like last season.
Some schools are testing only unvaccinated players unless they get a cluster, then everyone gets tested. So, in theory, an asymptomatic player who is vaccinated would not be tested. The men’s basketball team at UNC reached the 85 percent vaccinated threshold as a team so the school only tests unvaccinated players or vaccinated players who are symptomatic.
“We’re going to have to go back to where we were last year and loosen up rescheduling, loosen up whether it’s no contest,” Cunningham said. “They’re gonna have to make some modifications, there’s too many uncertainties right now. We didn’t think we’d be in this position, but we are, so we’re going to have to rethink our policies.”
The NCAA doesn’t have an organization-wide policy to follow regarding when a game can be played or when it needs to be rescheduled. It leaves those decisions up to individual conferences.
UK coach John Calipari, speaking after the Wildcats’ 98-69 win over the Heels, said he’d like to see a minimum established so that teams can still play games even if they don’t include the full roster. Calipari said if a team has eight healthy players, the games should go on because returning to how things were last season should not be an option.
“Look, the last year was the most miserable thing I’ve ever been through,” Calipari said. “My whole worry was mental health. My whole worry was keeping guys safe.”
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes had a tweak to Calipari’s suggestion, adding that the number should be centered on healthy scholarship players. Forbes had an unwanted front row seat to what the virus can do last year, when he watched his 25-year-old son lose 16 pounds after contracting it.
“Each day, you see the numbers creep up — I’m not talking about COVID numbers, I’m talking about canceled games,” Forbes said. “... it’s something we’ve probably got to get a grip on here pretty soon.”