Georgetown visit postponed
Friars won’t play again until Wednesday against Creighton
WASHINGTON — The Georgetown men’s basketball program is officially on pause after a positive coronavirus test within the program. The game scheduled for Wednesday night against DePaul was postponed and upcoming games against Providence at Alumni Hall on Saturday and Marquette next Wednesday have also been postponed.
The Big East announced the postponements and added that the positive test came from Tier 1 personnel, which includes student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials. The NCAA defines Tier 1 personnel as individuals for whom physical distancing and face coverings are not possible or effective during athletic training or competition.
Georgetown’s Tier 1 personnel have been tested three days a week for months now.
Coach Patrick Ewing recently talked about some of the safety precautions that have become part of daily life for the program.
He called travel a bit “unsettling,” but noted the team charters its flights, so they don’t have the normal interactions that other passengers have. The only real interaction with those outside of the program is with security, the pilot and flight attendants.
“I don’t like wearing a mask while coaching, but it’s just part of life right now,” Ewing said last week.
Ewing has a personal appreciation for the dangers after he was hospitalized for five days in the spring after testing positive. He called the experience scary after he had difficulty breathing.
“That’s why I put the message out,” Ewing said in July. “No matter who you are or how invincible you think you are, it’s like carbon monoxide: odorless, tasteless . . . . You can’t taste it, you can’t see it, but it can kill you. This is the same here. The thing is, I’ve been doing all the things they tell you - wear a mask, social distancing [from] people. I was doing all of those things, and I still got sick.”
The Hoyas (3-8, 1-5 Big East) are on a fivegame losing streak that matches the second longest of Ewing’s tenure as coach. The next regularly scheduled game is a trip to Xavier on Jan. 26.