What Frank Martin said about South Carolina’s coronavirus concerns
The University of South Carolina has already extended spring break and canceled some classes in response to concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus.
But as of Wednesday afternoon, Gamecocks intercollegiate events will go on as scheduled, for now, and that includes the men’s basketball team playing in the SEC tournament in Nashville.
After his team hit the court for practice. Gamecocks coach Frank Martin spoke about the situation.
“There’s people in leadership positions in everything that we do,” Martin said. “There’s people in leadership roles that they’re not making decisions based on social media popularity. They’re not making decisions on gossip. They’re not making decisions on the 24-hour news cycle. They’re making decisions because they’re getting information from people that are right in the middle of what’s going on. And at the end of the day, the safety, the welfare of our players, our coaches, our administrators, our fans, that’s number one. And, you know, sometimes we get inconvenienced from what what we want to do because decisions are made for what’s right. And I’m not a decision maker in this process. I listen to the leadership on my campus, the leadership of my university and the leadership of a community that I live in and play with that discomfort.”
He later joked that his team played the first game in the SEC tournament a few years back in front of an almost-empty gym, and now the rest of sport could feel what that’s like.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the SEC had not announced if it will allow fans in the building on Thursday. They will be allowed on Wednesday night.
The Gamecocks will face the winner of Vanderbilt-Arkansas at around 9:40 p.m. Thursday.
“I run practice every single day and I have a game plan going into games,” Martin said, comparing his planning to that of those in charge. “When the game starts, sometimes the guy that you’re running plays for rolls his ankle or he gets in foul trouble. Plays you thought were going to work don’t work, and you’ve got to adjust and make decisions that that impact that game. And it’s fluid. This is very similar. “
Gamecocks forward Justin Minaya said he probably hasn’t played in a truly empty gym since early morning AAU games. Guard Jermaine Couisnard had to go back to eighth grade ball.
“It would definitely be crazy,” Minaya said. “ It would definitely be something I had never experienced before. But, I mean, if that’s what you got to do, then just go out there and play and then see what happens.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 5:44 PM.
