Weird but good: South Carolina’s basketball teams tip off unusual pandemic seasons
For two hours Wednesday, everything was close to normal for the South Carolina women’s basketball team. The Gamecocks played a game, a 119-38 drubbing of College of Charleston, the kind fans have come to expect from coach Dawn Staley’s squad.
“It felt good just to be in the gym and escape from all the talk of COVID. Where we go from here, I don’t know. But it was good,” Staley said.
Of course, there’s no way to totally escape talk of COVID-19. Reminders of it were everywhere Wednesday: benches rearranged to extend along the baseline so players can socially distance; masks on coaches and players not on the court; and what sometimes felt like as many cutouts of dogs, cats and Chick-fil-A cow mascots in the stands as actual fans. Even Staley’s postgame news conference was over Zoom.
“’Weird’ is probably right on,” Staley said of the environment on that video call with reporters. “It’s hard. It’s hard after you’ve built such a strong fan base to actually completely seeing no fans and just cutouts .... but just overall, I see so many coaches texting (saying) their game got canceled seven hours before it was supposed to start because of COVID.”
That same afternoon, South Carolina men’s basketball had to cancel its exhibition with Coker after a delay in the opponent’s COVID-19 testing results. That announcement came less than two hours from tipoff.
Frank Martin’s program is one of dozens of teams that have had to cancel or postpone games due to the coronavirus pandemic as the new season starts.
“At the end of the day, any time we get to play a game this year, it’s a win for our kids,” Martin said Monday. “They put in the time, and mentally they get to do what they love to do. When we get to play a game, it’s a heck of a day for us.”
On Thanksgiving, the women’s team lost a game from its schedule for the first time when Oklahoma announced it would not travel to the Women’s Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in South Dakota. The Gamecocks and Sooners had been scheduled to play Sunday.
Both USC teams now travel for tournaments in areas where the rate of coronavirus cases have spiked to record highs recently — South Dakota for the women, Missouri for the men.
“South Dakota, does it scare me? Absolutely. Does it scare our players? Absolutely. I mean, we’d be lying to you if we told you we weren’t concerned about it,” Staley acknowledged, before noting the “bubble” environment the teams will be sequestered in and the testing to which they’ll have access.
But even when the Gamecocks don’t have to travel, nothing will be as it was in Colonial Life Arena. Both the men’s and women’s program have typically drawn more than 10,000 fans per game in years past.
This year, no more than 3,500 will be allowed in the stands, and no one will be allowed within five rows of the court. On Wednesday, before a holiday and with many students already home, that announced “sellout” crowd was less than 1,000 actual people. Staley even joked afterward about the entire building hearing the guidance she was shouting out to her players.
It made for a distinctly less raucous atmosphere, even as the arena pumped in some crowd noise, set up cutouts of fans and even organized an entire section for pet photos behind a cutout of Staley’s dog, Champ. For the players on the court, the difference was notable.
“It was very different. We are used to having, you know, 18,000 people in here. So like, it’s very different. Quiet,” junior forward Victaria Saxton said. “But we found a way to bring our own energy, and we have to do that every game and be ready for that.”
The men shouldn’t have a problem bringing their own energy, given that they’ve had to wait three extra days before they play. Junior guard A.J. Lawson couldn’t hide his excitement for Wednesday’s opener.
“It feels great,” Lawson said, before the game was canceled. “Last night, I could barely sleep because I was thinking about playing. I can’t wait to play. I can’t wait to step out there and showcase our team and just come out and play hard and just put on a show for everyone that’s watching.”
The men’s cancellation Wednesday showed that getting each game played, much less an entire season, will mark an achievement, especially in a sport where even one positive test and subsequent contact tracing is all but certain to shut down an entire program for two weeks, Staley acknowledged. That fact is never far from players’ and coaches’ minds.
“Definitely had huge worries about” the entire season being canceled, sophomore guard Zia Cooke said. “And I’ve seen some schools having seasons, not being canceled, but two weeks off. So that’s something that we definitely don’t want to happen for us. And we’re just doing everything that we need to do as far as COVID and doing everything that’s taking care of ourselves.”
— The State’s Michael Lananna contributed to this story.
Next South Carolina basketball games
Both teams are traveling for tournaments this weekend
▪ USC women: No. 1 South Carolina vs. South Dakota (3 p.m. Saturday). USC vs. Gonzaga (3 p.m. Sunday). Games are streaming online on FloHoops.com (subscription required)
▪ USC men: Gamecocks vs. Liberty (4 p.m. Saturday, ESPNews), Gamecocks vs. TCU or Tulsa (1 or 3:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2)
