Another Gamecocks basketball game canceled as USC deals with COVID impact, quarantine
A second South Carolina men’s basketball game has been canceled with the Gamecocks dealing with COVID-19 issues.
South Carolina’s game scheduled for Monday at George Washington will not take place, the school announced. USC’s game scheduled for Thursday night against Wofford had already been canceled.
“After receiving results from Wednesday’s round of COVID-19 tests and due to the required quarantine period, the University of South Carolina men’s basketball contest at George Washington, scheduled for Dec. 14, has been canceled,” the school said in a release.
The next game on the schedule is against Clemson on Dec. 19. The Gamecocks are set to host the Tigers. However, it is unknown at this point if that game will be played. South Carolina can resume team activities beginning the middle of next week at the earliest.
“The testing process will continue during the suspension of the team’s activities, which pending negative test results, would resume on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the earliest. Further updates will be announced when available,” South Carolina announced.
The Gamecocks announced Tuesday night individuals within the program tested positive for COVID-19. The school did not specify who tested positive or whether they were players, coaches or members of the support staff.
Per SEC guidelines, players who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least 10 days, then begin a four-day re-acclimation period to avoid cardiac complications associated with the virus. In addition to retests, SEC teams use digital trackers to aid with contact tracing.
South Carolina is off to a 1-2 start in the 2020-21 season, with a win over Tulsa and losses to Liberty and Houston.
The Gamecocks have upcoming nonconference games against Clemson and South Carolina State, before beginning SEC play Dec. 29 at Kentucky.
South Carolina has now had to cancel three games due to COVID-19 concerns. The Gamecocks canceled their Nov. 25 exhibition match and original home opener against Coker due to a delay in the delivery of Coker’s test results. They have yet to play a home game.
The Gamecocks have also faced opponents that were touched by the coronavirus. In the Gamecocks’ loss to Houston on Dec. 5, neither Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson nor assistant coach Kellen Sampson could attend the game due to contact-tracing protocols.
Multiple teams in the SEC have seen their seasons stalled by the pandemic. Mississippi announced Nov. 23 that it would cancel its first four games of the season after head coach Kermit Davis and others with the team tested positive. The Rebels will play their first game of the season Thursday. Tennessee, which canceled four games due to similar issues, played its first game of the season Tuesday.
“If I could hit rewind and revisit, I would have said, ‘Let’s just play conference games,’” Martin said Wednesday night on his call-in radio show. “And let’s deal with that, so we have all the same testing protocols and know we could regulate the opponent and minimize travel.”
Martin tested positive for COVID-19 back in May and said that he prays that everyone affected by the virus doesn’t get “hit hard.” Throughout the last few weeks, Martin has said that he views every opportunity to play a game this year as a victory in itself. And in his most recent press conference, on Tuesday, he expressed concern with the rigors of playing a season during a pandemic.
“This year, it’s not easy, man,” Martin said Tuesday. “Mental health for these kids is a complicated formula because they’ve got no outlet right now. If fans, media, you guys, average Joe, if you guys want to be really, really critical of me, go at it. But this is not the year to pound on the players. They’re in a place where they’re sheltered, away from their normal 18-, 19-, 20-year-old lives so they can play basketball to make everyone happy.
“This is not the year to over-judge good days and bad days. We should all celebrate the days we get to go out there and play.”
— The State’s Michael Lananna contributed to this story
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 9:09 AM.
