Tribe takes hiatus
After a COVID-19 test sent William & Mary’s men’s basketball program into quarantine for 14 days, Tribe coach Dane Fischer detailed his team’s approach to the break in play.
The positive COVID-19 test that sent William & Mary’s men’s basketball program into quarantine for 14 days on Sunday, a day after the 86-78 season-opening loss at Old Dominion, was a disappointment, but not a surprise.
So, like the college itself — which received favorable reviews for conducting in-person classes smoothly through the pandemic in the first semester — the basketball program was ready. Tribe coach Dane Fischer said the goal is for his team to use the two weeks productively so it emerges improved.
Barring any changes, illness should not hamper that objective. Fischer said the one person in the program to test positive was asymptomatic and no one has tested positive or displayed any symptoms since Sunday.
“Everybody across college basketball is dealing with this,” said Fischer, who guided the Tribe to 21 wins in his first season in 2019-20. “So we had prepared that if and when we happened to go into quarantine, that we had the right workouts for the guys to stay in good shape and that we had the right plan coming out of it to get our guys back and ready to play.”
The physical fitness part starts with performance coach Ray Eady and trainer Kevin Clerkley. Their strength and conditioning workouts using body weight, movement and stretching are voluntary, but with little to do now that exams are over, the players are attacking them eagerly.
While the players can go outside for walks if they stay away from others, Fischer said that the ball-handling workouts he’s given them are designed to be done in their rooms. Otherwise, the team meets daily on
Zoom, reviewing video from the ODU game and from previous practices.
“We’re trying to maintain a daily structure for these guys,” Fischer said. “We’re reading a book about team development and mental toughness, and are discussing that.”
Nonetheless, hours in their rooms and away from the gym since the ODU game have been tough on the players.
“In-person interactions with my teammates and coaches are much better than Zoom calls,” guard Luke Loewe said. “It feels like we’re locked up, honestly.”
Despite the graduation of four starters, and the absence of key ball-handler Thornton Scott (ankle injury), the Tribe showed promise in the loss at ODU.
That started with the solid play of 6-foot-7 Quinn Blair (nine points, 10 rebounds) and 6-9 Mehkel Harvey (eight points, seven rebounds) — hopeful signs for a W&M team rebuilding in the paint after losing 6-10 Nathan Knight (20.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg), the CAA Player of the Year, and 7-foot Andy Van Vliet (13.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg).
“Those 10 rebounds were huge because it wasn’t like they fell into his lap,” Fischer said of Blair. “I love the way he went after the ball off of the glass.”
Good things were expected from returning starter Loewe, but his 10 assists (to go with 16 points) were crucial with Scott sidelined. Freshman Connor Kochera provided the breakout performance, scoring 19 points in making 6 of 7 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
“Kochera obviously had a phenomenal game statistically,” Fischer said. “But what you probably can’t see is the leadership he showed and the way he was communicating out on the floor, helping us get organized.
“That was as important as the numbers he put up.”
When he and the Tribe will get a chance to add to them remains to be seen. Games against North Carolina State, Hampton, George Washington and Virginia were scheduled during the quarantine.
W&M’s next game was rescheduled for Dec. 16 at Hampton, two days after the Tribe’s quarantine is scheduled to end. The Pirates announced Thursday that the game was moved back from Dec. 15.
Fischer thinks other games could be rescheduled, but said finding an open date that suits both teams is the key. COVID-19 will continue to be an issue.
As such, it is just as possible the Tribe could add a game to the schedule on short notice — should someone lose an opponent due to the coronavirus — as it is to lose a game because of a positive test.
“I talked to Ed Joyner,” Fischer said before the Dec. 16 rescheduling was announced, referring to Hampton’s basketball coach. “He said, ‘Keep me posted. We want to play the game and we’ll be flexible.’
“That’s the sentiment of everyone in college basketball right now. We’ve got to be flexible and work with each other and understand the schedule is going to get moved a little every now and then — even if it’s just a day or two.
“We’ve got to give our teams as many opportunities to compete as we can, and do it in as safe an environment as we can.”