‘Nothing about this looks good’
Uncertainty of season taking a toll mentally on UConn, Auriemma
Geno Auriemma is a Hall of Famer, the architect of one of college basketball’s great dynasties, an 11-time national champion.
What he’s not is a mental health expert.
But he doesn’t necessarily need any schooling to recognize the toll that COVID-19 is taking on his players’ psyche.
“You see some signs that they’re OK and things are OK, and you see lots of signs that things are not OK, that they’re not there mentally,” the UConn coach said Thursday during a Zoom call with reporters. “They’re somewhere else. The ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand has been very, very difficult.”
Third-ranked UConn has already had three games canceled and two others postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, including a 10day quarantine of their own following a positive test within the program.
The Huskies’ new season opener is set for Saturday — two weeks later than anticipated — against UMass Lowell at Gampel Pavilion, but Auriemma can’t say for sure it’ll happen.
“Maybe all the interruptions, maybe all the uncertainty of being cooped up for all these weeks and months, they talk about cabin fever,” Auriemma said, “I’ve got to believe that
college basketball, college sports, these kids are all suffering from COVID fever. They don’t actually have the virus, but they’ve got all the things that the virus does to people.
“Right now, I don’t see the ability to focus and concentrate. Maybe we just need a game, maybe I’ll change my mind after Saturday, but right now, I know it’s a weird year and I know it’s difficult for everybody, but nothing about this looks good to be honest with you.”
For now, junior guard Evina Westbrook said, the players are trying not to worry about things out of their control.
“Fingers crossed that we can play this game Saturday,” she said.
Auriemma’s stressed repeatedly that he and UConn athletic director Dave Benedict were on board with pushing the season back to Feb. 1 and running it through May, allowing more time for the coronavirus to be contained and everyday life to normalize.
“Obviously you’re going to go along with what everybody else wants to do,” Auriemma said. “But it’s shaking out like this is not working, and they’re saying that the worst is yet to come. This isn’t working. We’re doing it, don’t get me wrong, and maybe the college football people will tell you, ‘Hey, this is working great for us,’ I doubt it, but I don’t know. I don’t.
“I keep my fingers crossed every day. Maybe if we do play Saturday, after Saturday’s game, I’ll have a completely different outlook on, ‘Boy, that was great.’ ”
The anticipation that had built after the Nov. 25 start date was announced quickly evaporated once the Huskies were forced to shut down for 10 days due to a positive COVID-19 case. Full-time practices resumed Dec. 3 — five days earlier than expected in accordance with the CDC’s revised quarantine guidelines — but ramping back up, Auriemma said, has been difficult, especially mentally.
“The part that’s worrisome is how long it takes to accomplish things. Some of that may just be youth,” said Auriemma, whose team boasts six freshmen, “and the other part may just be the inability to focus and lock in.
“We do these three things, let’s say, and two days from now, three days from now, we could look like we haven’t done any of them ever, after spending three days on them.”
BUTLER GAME POSTPONED
UConn’s Big East opener against Butler, scheduled for Tuesday against Gampel Pavilion, has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Bulldogs’ program, it was announced Thursday night.
No makeup date has been announced.
The game was one of three postponed by the Bulldogs, who are pausing all team activities in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.
The Huskies were originally supposed to make their return to the Big East on Dec. 6 against Seton Hall, but that too was rescheduled after the Pirates instituted a shutdown of their own. The game has been moved to Dec. 17.