The activities of the South Carolina men’s basketball team are currently disrupted due to the COVID-19 protocols. Tests on Wednesday required the team to quarantine and cancel their second game of the season.
According to the head coach Frank Martin on Thursday night, Gamecocks will not be able to return to the court until December 17th, at the very least. Future tests will determine when the team will be able to return to the court.
On Thursday night, the night when South Carolina was due to open the season opener, Martin talked about what his team is going through.
Martin did not disclose the number of players who were positive, but said that only the players were positive, not the team members. When the players heard about the positive aspects coming from Houston, they wanted to do more tests.
“The tracking part is difficult. We don’t have the exact moment, ”said Martin. “All we know is that we came back from Houston, Houston announced that the tests were positive and our boys wanted to take the test. We did additional tests and that was when we found out that we had positive results. “
On Thursday, Duke’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski that your team does not play for more games outside the conference.
Martin says he will not travel to another game outside the conference, but to continue playing the season. Martin said that playing a normal season is like “trying to fit a square pin into a round hole”, but he wants to find out the best way to protect players, coaches and families so they can play.
“Having our boys on campus gives them a sense of peace and security. We have a lot of people who care, ”said Martin. “I am totally in favor of the game, but I am not against rethinking. We are trying to play our season on a regular basis in an irregular year. This does not fit. Everyone else – football, NBA, all sports organizations – made adjustments. I think we need to think about this advance on what we can adjust to make it better. “
The next time South Carolina is scheduled to enter the court is on Saturday, December 19, against rival Clemson. Tigers and Gamecocks are set to fight at the Colonial Life Arena at noon with coverage on the SEC Network. The only other game before the Christmas holiday is scheduled for December 23 against the state of South Carolina.
Martin said this now, he is not sure how comfortable he would be playing Clemson with just two days of practice time after being out of court for at least nine days.
Gamecocks are currently 1-2 in the season with their victory against Tulsa in the final game of the Hall of Fame Classic. South Carolina lost the season opener to Liberty in the first game of that tournament and also lost a race last Saturday to Houston on the road.