The South Carolina men’s basketball team returned to the training ground with limited capacity on Sunday night. Gamecocks (1-2) have dealt with Covid-19 problems in their team and activities have been paused twice.
Gamecocks may be on the other side from a team perspective, and are scheduled to play Florida A&M this Saturday for the first time since a Saturday afternoon competition started in Houston on December 5.
Since then, South Carolina has had five games canceled or postponed.
“Everyone came back on the 26th. We tested it yesterday morning”, head coach Frank Martin said. “We were able to return to the court. The plan is to continue testing and re-climating, which is the process that was established for the guys to return to the court full time, the plan is to play this game on January 2nd. How many guys we have is in the air now. But for now, that is the plan. “
The Gamecocks played only three games this season, and none of them came home. They played two at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri, before making the scheduled trip to Houston, which was part of a SEC deal with AAC.
Martin will not be able to fully train with his team until Wednesday.
“We were just starting to find out who we were and some of the things we needed to do better, some of the things I was not happy with and some of the things we are good at,” said Martin. “So we were closed. Since December 7, we have a practice. It is difficult to evaluate and improve your team in one practice in 20 days. We are not yet in a place of practice now. This will probably happen not tomorrow, but the next day, when we can practice the whole team. “
Many basketball programs across the country have dealt with Covid-19 problems and have had to stop activities. Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are among the teams at the Southeast Conference that have had to temporarily interrupt their training and have lost games.
Just being able to play is something Martin doesn’t take for granted.
“The last thing I’m going to do is complain when it comes to winning and losing games or where we’re at when we’re dealing with what we’ve been dealing with for the past nine months,” said Martin.
“I just lost another friend this morning because of this crazy virus that was launched against us. I can’t believe I’m getting ready to say this, but that’s where it all brought me is, winning and losing now is irrelevant to me. I want our players to be at peace and in a place where they feel comfortable and if we have the opportunity to compete, great. But, with some of the challenges Keyonte Johnson is facing as an individual and his family, and with so many people who have gone through difficult times, we just want the opportunity to be healthy. If we can compete, we will do the best we can. “
The first game of the conference for South Carolina is scheduled for January 6 at home against Texas A&M. The complaint is scheduled for 9 pm