Women hoopsters mask up while playing games

We just couldn’t let this stuff go …

It is not unusual to see players and coaches wearing masks on the sideline as the college basketball season gets going.

The DePaul and Creighton women’s teams have taken it a step further: Their players are wearing masks while they are on the court competing, writes Doug Feinberg of The Associated Press.

“The first week I complained every day, but now it’s normal as we wear them every day in practice,” said Deja Church, a senior guard for DePaul. “It’s kind of normal now. I don’t like it, but whatever keeps us and the coaches and everyone safe is what matters most.”

The NCAA does not require masks on the court, though it recommends them on the bench along with social-distancing guidance for its member schools and other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But masks are still very uncommon in organized basketball and that is unlikely to change.

DePaul coach Doug Bruno said he took the advice of the school’s medical staff. His No. 20 team has worn masks in every practice and played its first two games wearing them.

Creighton coach Jim Flanery said he left it up to his players to decide whether they wanted to wear masks in games. A majority of them are wearing them.

“Our contact tracer has told us it will be impactful in terms of contact tracing and determining whether we’d have to pause if someone on the other team tests positive,” Flanery said. “We gave (the players) the information and let them make the decision.”

Flanery said that he isn’t sure how long his players will wear masks this season, but “if it gives us a greater opportunity to have everyone available or more people available if we’re exposed, it’s worth it.”

But does it making breathing more difficult? Experts say no.

“It’s doing very little, if anything, to your physiology,” said Susan Hopkins, a professor of medicine and radiology at the UCSD School of Medicine.

“All of the evidence we’ve been able to assemble is that it’s your perception of breathing that it affects. Some people may find that distressing,” said Hopkins, who specializes in exercise physiology and the study of lungs under stress. “After three months practicing in it, most athletes should be used to it.”