Frank Martin reveals timetable for Gamecocks’ return to practice ahead of next game
Select members of the South Carolina men’s basketball team were set to return to practice Saturday following a two-week pause in activities due to positive COVID-19 tests within the program.
Head coach Frank Martin revealed the news during his weekly Carolina Calls radio show on Thursday night, confirming an earlier report by national college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein.
Martin said just eight players would attempt to practice Saturday, with the rest of the roster aiming to return next week. Those eight players will only be allowed to practice at 50% of the intensity they normally practice with, Martin said, adding that he’ll work with athletic trainer Mark Rodger to determine how far he can push the players.
The Gamecocks’ next scheduled game is Wednesday against South Carolina State in Columbia.
“There’s eight guys that are able to practice at 50% of what a full practice would normally be ... and that’s what we’re going to do on Saturday,” Martin said on the show. “We’re not allowed to go 100% ... and then on Sunday, we can do a little bit more.”
Martin said he anticipates the team can practice at 100% of normal intensity Monday, with perhaps nine or 10 players available.
The Gamecocks (1-2) haven’t played a game since a Dec. 5 road contest at Houston — a game that neither Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson nor assistant coach Kellen Sampson attended due to contact tracing protocols. Three days later, both the Cougars and the Gamecocks announced positive COVID-19 tests within their respective programs.
“All we know is that we got back from Houston, and Houston announced they had positive tests. And then our guys wanted to test,” Martin told reporters last week. “And so we had an additional test, and that’s when we found out that we had positives.”
Since then, South Carolina has canceled a Dec. 10 home game against Wofford, a Dec. 14 road trip to George Washington, and the Gamecocks postponed their Dec. 19 rivalry bout against Clemson. The team has yet to play a game at Colonial Life Arena in the 2020-21 season, and a makeup game against the Tigers has not yet been announced.
Assuming COVID-19 cooperates — which is not always a safe assumption — the Gamecocks should make their home debut against South Carolina State next week before gearing up for the start of Southeastern Conference play, which begins with a Dec. 29 trip to Kentucky.
Martin said he expects his players to show some rust after the layoff.
“I’m going to manage Saturday, and when we get past Saturday, I’ll manage Sunday, and when we get past Sunday, I’ll manage Monday,” Martin said. “At the end of the day, there’s a game scheduled for the 23rd. I will be a lot more consumed with us than the opponent, which is a different place for me at this time of the year.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 7:16 PM.
