USD’S YO-YO SEASON HAS ONE FINAL SHOT
The day before USD was to face Arizona back in December, three-fourths of the Toreros’ men’s basketball team were seated on a flight to Tucson when a player in line to board learned he had tested positive for COVID-19.
The player notified a USD assistant coach, the Toreros relayed the news to a flight attendant and the players on board deplaned.
The anecdote exemplifies a 2020-21 season that has been marred by four COVID pauses, three of them for 14 days. Start, then stop. Look like you’ll play, then learn that you won’t. The Toreros (3-10), who open the West Coast Conference Tournament tonight at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas against USF (10-13), have had 14 games canceled.
Four were wiped out the day the games were scheduled.
Only six out of 340 qualified Division I teams have played fewer games than USD.
“This season has been one I will never forget, ever in my life,” said forward Josh Parrish, who’s in his fifth season of Division I basketball. “I don’t think any year in my life has been so random.”
Even before the COVID pauses, the 2020-21 campaign figured to be trying for USD. The Toreros were coming off a 9-23 season and had nine new players, including five Division I transfers. Adding to the challenge, leading scorer Braun Hartfield left the team for personal reasons in August, then decided not return.
WCC coaches picked USD to finish ninth in the 10team league.
“Certainly,” said head coach Sam Scholl back in November, “we have a lot to prove.”
Four of the five Division I transfers figured to play prominent roles, but the team didn’t have the opportunity to meld when spring, summer and early fall workouts were canceled by COVID protocols.
Then came the first 14day pause, which hit five days before the Toreros were scheduled to open the season in a tournament at the University of Washington.
After coming back, USD played four games, then came the positive test before the Arizona game.
The Toreros opened WCC play on Dec. 31, lost at USF 70-62, only to have a player test positive the next day to start the second 14day pause.
“(The season’s) had its share of ups and downs,” said junior guard Joey Calcaterra, USD’s leading scorer who missed two games because of COVID protocol. “But I think the one thing we’ll take out of this season more than anything is recognizing how many fighters we’ve got on our team.”
The season was halted again on Feb. 2 with another positive test, leading to the third 14-day pause and six more canceled games. When the team returned to practice on Feb. 16, Scholl’s biggest concern was avoiding another stoppage that would have risked ending the season.
USD’s women’s basketball team, which was 12-7 and in fourth place in the WCC, had a positive test last week that canceled the rest of the season.
With three home games scheduled last week, Scholl was so careful about players not contacting each other in practice that he had players who hadn’t tested positive sit in chairs 10 feet apart along the baseline, watching players who had tested positive mimic the opponents’ offense and defense.
Said Scholl, “The focus had to be on this group, this whole group of 14 guys having
the opportunity to finish the season and have the opportunity to play games.”
As would be expected in a season with so many disruptions, the Toreros have been inconsistent.
Parrish has been the most reliable of the transfers, starting all 13 games, averaging 10.5 points, second on the team.
Chris Herren Jr. quit the team for personal reasons. The other three, guard Frankie Hughes plus forwards Ben Pyle and Yavuz Gultekin, have at times shown they’re capable of scoring in double figures but have been inconsistent.
Hughes, a Duquesne transfer, scored 22 points against Nevada, including 16 points in a span of 2 minutes, 33 seconds. But in a fourgame stretch he was 3 of 23 on 3s and shot 24.5 percent from the field for the season.
In USD’s 71-60 win at Santa Clara, Pyle scored USD’s first 10 points and finished with 15. But on the season the Western Illinois transfer is shooting 32.9 percent.
Gultekin, a Texas A&M transfer, scored nine points with five rebounds in less than 12 minutes against Gonzaga but has struggled in other games.
To Scholl, missed practices
have impacted the team’s progress more than missed games.
“You build your habits to play well in games through practice,” he said. “What you want to pursue offensively and defensively, it’s done through consistent day-today repetition. There’s been no rhythm in this on-and-off season.”
As for next season, Scholl’s fourth as head coach, much will depend on the roster. Parrish and Yauhen Massalski are the lone seniors and by NCAA rule that grants all players another year of eligibility, they could return.
Parrish said he’s “still on the fence” but is leaning toward returning.
On the subject of coming back, Massalski said, “I have no comment on that question.”
Two high school players have committed to USD, highlighted by Coronado High guard Wayne McKinney III, rated a three-star recruit by multiple scouting services. USD has two more scholarships and maybe more if players on the current roster transfer.
Scholl said he’ll be looking for “experience (read transfers), size and play making.”
He might have added,
“players who can shoot.”
For the second season in a row, USD’s biggest f law has been its inability to put the ball in the basket. Out of 340 qualified schools, USD ranks 267th in scoring (67.4 points), 263rd in shooting (42.2 percent) and 268th in 3-point shooting (31.6 percent).
After going 21-15 and advancing to the NIT for the first time in program history with players recruited by his predecessor, Lamont Smith, Scholl is a combined 12-33 the past two seasons.
“No matter what, the expectation is to win games,” he said. “We certainly have fallen short in those situations.”
Scholl, though, is proud of the character his players have demonstrated this season.
“When we went into the third pause, I just felt so terrible for them,” he said. “I told them, ‘Maybe this is God creating another opportunity for us as men to have our resilience grow and our mental discipline grow.’ And I really feel it has.”
Asked how he thinks the team has held up, Executive Director of Athletics Bill McGillis said “We’re still standing. I do think our coaching staff and our players have demonstrated remarkable maturity and poise and have persevered through extraordinary circumstances.”
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone took a leave of absence from the team to get a pacemaker and intends to return to work in a few days.
New York said the procedure was likely to be performed later today at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
“It sounds like it’s going to be a short-term thing,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “I do applaud him for being very open and honest.”
Bench coach Carlos Mendoza took over as acting manager for Wednesday night’s exhibition against Toronto in Tampa.
Boone, 47, said in a statement the medical team is “confident that today’s surgery will allow me to resume all of my usual professional and personal activities and afford me a positive long-term health prognosis without having to change anything about my way of life. I look forward to getting back to work in the next several days.”
Lester surgery
Washington Nationals left-hander Jon Lester is leaving spring training camp to have surgery for the removal of his thyroid gland.
The 37-year-old Lester was to travel from West Palm Beach, Fla., to New York today; the Nationals said the operation is planned for Friday.
“Hopefully he can pitch again in about a week,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We want him to get it taken care of now, so it’s not an issue.”
In 2006, Lester’s rookie season with the Boston Red Sox ended early because he was diagnosed with a form of
lymphoma. He underwent chemotherapy treatments and returned to the Red Sox at spring training before the following season.
Lester is entering his 16th year in the majors and first with Washington. He was a free agent and joined the Nationals on a $5 million, oneyear contract after playing the past six seasons with the Chicago Cubs.
Astros’ Valdez hurt
Houston Astros lefthander Framber Valdez has a fractured left ring finger, an injury that could deal another blow to the team’s banged-up starting rotation.
The 27-year-old was hurt on the fifth pitch of his spring training debut Tuesday at Port St. Lucie, Fla., on a one-hopper off the bat of the Mets’ Francisco Lindor
for the second out of the first inning. The ball hit the finger as he grabbed the ball, and after throwing to first for the out, Valdez flexed the finger several times.
He took a few warmups and stayed in the game. Valdez finished two innings, throwing 24 pitches.
“Following his outing, we decided to have Framber examined,” Astros General Manager James Click said Wednesday. “The X-ray revealed the injury. At this point, the medical staff needs to do additional tests and imaging before deciding on the next steps. We will know more in the upcoming days.”
Houston already was without ace Justin Verlander, who probably will miss the entire season following Tommy John surgery on Sept. 30. Valdez had been
projected to be part of a rotation that includes Zack Greinke, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr. and Jose Urquidy.
• Diamondbacks Tim Locastro
tested positive COVID-19.
Manager Torey Lovullo
said that Locastro tested positive on Tuesday night and would be out for 10 days unless there had been a false positive. Lovullo added that Locastro feels good and currently has no symptoms.
• Veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez agreed to terms on a minor league contract with the Marlins and will take part in their major league camp.
• Infielder Eric Sogard
and the Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract, a person familiar with the situation said. outfielder has for