Jay Wright held a media availability Thursday afternoon and touched on a wide range of topics. The most pressing topic was scheduling as programs across the country scramble to fill out their schedules now that we have a start date and a minimum and maximum number of games (must play 13, maximum 27).
Wright said that everything hinges on the Big East schedule, and the priority is getting that settled first and as quickly as possible. The league has discussed the idea of a bubble for some conference games, but it appears unlikely it will ultimately go that route. Once the conference schedule is set, the focus will shift to filling out the non-conference schedule, and Wright is hoping to play as many non-conference games as possible and wants to get to the maximum number of allowed games. It appears unlikely that a full Big 5 schedule will be played this season but that some Big 5 games will be included. It sounds as though playing the Virginia game will be a priority, while the Empire Classic with N.C. State, Michigan, and Baylor remains up in the air as it was scheduled for November 19 and 20, before the new start date. We'll know more on the Empire Classic once each conference nails down their schedules. Wright also said that he hopes to be able to keep some of the "mid-major" type opponents, namely Howard, as high-profile games are incredibly important to those programs both financially and in terms of postseason play. He also said that if the Howard game is lost this year, they would likely try to schedule it next year. The Big East held a conference call this morning to work on the schedule and will host another one tomorrow morning, and Wright also was heading to another scheduling call following his media availability.
As for COVID-19 protocols, the team is currently testing once a week and the goal is to ramp it up to three times per week as the team gears up for full practices and games. The players' rooms are all grouped together and were strategically placed at the end of a hallway next to an exit to reduce the amount of foot traffic and interaction with the larger student body. The players are being discouraged from having guests, and the Pavilion is open to them for Zoom classes if they want to get out of their rooms. Wright said the staff is encouraging players to be leaders in following university protocols and is impressing upon the players the importance of following guidelines, highlighting the fact that a mistake that leads to contracting the virus would impact the entire team. No players or staff members have tested positive at this point.
As for practice, the team has yet to hold a full team practice. So far, they've been practicing in "pods" of four players at a time. The hope is to ramp up to full team practices soon.
In terms of early returns so far, Wright highlighted Cole Swider, Jermaine Samuels, Justin Moore, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl for the condition in which they returned to campus, joking that "they may have done better than they would have being with us." He also noted that Swider and Brandon Slater have looked particularly good so far with the caveat that it's hard to get a full picture of where the guys are at when they are just playing within their own pod.
Wright is also hopeful that at some point at least some fans would be allowed in attendance, although he noted that state and local guidelines would have to allow for it. He also noted that the allowance of fans could have an effect on where games are scheduled. If it becomes clear that no fans will be allowed at any point in the season, then all home games would likely be played at the Pavilion. However, if the state sets a percentage of capacity number to be allowed in, they could look to schedule more games at the Wells Fargo Center as the higher capacity would allow for more fans to get in.
For now, we'll wait for them to hammer out the Big East schedule as that needs to get completed before anything else can be worked out. I'd expect this to get done sooner than later so that schools have as much time as possible to try to work out non-conference games.
Wright said that everything hinges on the Big East schedule, and the priority is getting that settled first and as quickly as possible. The league has discussed the idea of a bubble for some conference games, but it appears unlikely it will ultimately go that route. Once the conference schedule is set, the focus will shift to filling out the non-conference schedule, and Wright is hoping to play as many non-conference games as possible and wants to get to the maximum number of allowed games. It appears unlikely that a full Big 5 schedule will be played this season but that some Big 5 games will be included. It sounds as though playing the Virginia game will be a priority, while the Empire Classic with N.C. State, Michigan, and Baylor remains up in the air as it was scheduled for November 19 and 20, before the new start date. We'll know more on the Empire Classic once each conference nails down their schedules. Wright also said that he hopes to be able to keep some of the "mid-major" type opponents, namely Howard, as high-profile games are incredibly important to those programs both financially and in terms of postseason play. He also said that if the Howard game is lost this year, they would likely try to schedule it next year. The Big East held a conference call this morning to work on the schedule and will host another one tomorrow morning, and Wright also was heading to another scheduling call following his media availability.
As for COVID-19 protocols, the team is currently testing once a week and the goal is to ramp it up to three times per week as the team gears up for full practices and games. The players' rooms are all grouped together and were strategically placed at the end of a hallway next to an exit to reduce the amount of foot traffic and interaction with the larger student body. The players are being discouraged from having guests, and the Pavilion is open to them for Zoom classes if they want to get out of their rooms. Wright said the staff is encouraging players to be leaders in following university protocols and is impressing upon the players the importance of following guidelines, highlighting the fact that a mistake that leads to contracting the virus would impact the entire team. No players or staff members have tested positive at this point.
As for practice, the team has yet to hold a full team practice. So far, they've been practicing in "pods" of four players at a time. The hope is to ramp up to full team practices soon.
In terms of early returns so far, Wright highlighted Cole Swider, Jermaine Samuels, Justin Moore, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl for the condition in which they returned to campus, joking that "they may have done better than they would have being with us." He also noted that Swider and Brandon Slater have looked particularly good so far with the caveat that it's hard to get a full picture of where the guys are at when they are just playing within their own pod.
Wright is also hopeful that at some point at least some fans would be allowed in attendance, although he noted that state and local guidelines would have to allow for it. He also noted that the allowance of fans could have an effect on where games are scheduled. If it becomes clear that no fans will be allowed at any point in the season, then all home games would likely be played at the Pavilion. However, if the state sets a percentage of capacity number to be allowed in, they could look to schedule more games at the Wells Fargo Center as the higher capacity would allow for more fans to get in.
For now, we'll wait for them to hammer out the Big East schedule as that needs to get completed before anything else can be worked out. I'd expect this to get done sooner than later so that schools have as much time as possible to try to work out non-conference games.