TOREROS FORCED TO HIT PAUSE BUTTON
A member of the USD men’s basketball program tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and as a result the Toreros have paused all team activity for 14 days, delaying their season opener until next month.
USD Athletic Director Bill McGillis would not say if the person who tested positive was a player or coach.
USD was scheduled to open the season Wednesday against Cal State Fullerton at a tournament in Seattle. That game has been canceled, as were the other two games in the holiday weekend event, against Washington and Portland State.
The Toreros are now scheduled to open the season Dec. 9 at UCLA. Barring further positive tests, USD plans to resume practice Dec. 4.
McGillis said the infected individual “is feeling well.” He said the person will be in isolation for two weeks and that the rest of the program will be in quarantine during that time.
“We spoke to our team about expecting disruption, preparing for disruption,” said McGillis. “The virus does not discriminate. It’s chasing all of us.”
Said head coach Sam Scholl: “It’s just one of the challenges that we knew was going to be in front of us.”
When USD began official fall practice Oct. 14, Scholl said the team adopted the attitude that it had two opponents this season: opposing teams on the court and COVID.
“COVID is the overwhelming favorite,” said Scholl. “You can do all the right things and still have a positive test. We accept that
this happened and will get ready to be the best version of ourselves today and the next day.”
While in quarantine, the USD players will be limited as to what they can do to prepare for the game against UCLA, which returns all five starters and was picked in a preseason media poll to win the Pac-12.
“There’s going to be a lot of Zoom (meetings) with coaches and a lot of film watching,” said Scholl.
Most of the USD players live in apartments. Scholl said those players will be restricted to working out inside.
“A lot of PX90 and Jane Fonda workouts,” said Scholl, “whatever they can
do to get their heart rates up.”
USD was scheduled to play Dec. 2 at UC Irvine and host Fullerton on Dec. 8. The Toreros will attempt to reschedule those games. USD is scheduled to open West Coast Conference play on New Year’s Eve at USF.