The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Cleared for takeoff
UConn players negative for COVID, cleared for workouts
Members of the UConn women’s basketball team arrived on campus last week and have been cleared for voluntary workouts.
The program announced Sunday that all 11 players tested negative for COVID-19. As such, they are in modified quarantine and are allowed to participate in on-court and strength and conditioning activities within small groups.
Currently, only the strength and conditioning staff may observe and conduct voluntary workouts. On-the-court activities with the coaching staff will begin Tuesday.
UConn began allowing men’s basketball players back June 19 as a pilot program submitted to the state’s Higher Education Committee. Football players were eligible to return starting July 1. Women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma chose to wait until last weekend.
As it is, July 20 was the first day college basketball programs were allowed to hold team activities. Those sessions may last up to eight weeks until Sept. 15 or the first day of classes, whichever comes first.
“I didn’t want them here any earlier,” Auriemma said last month during a Zoom call. “You can’t work with players until July 20 anyway, so why bring them here in June?”
Players will be subject to health and safety protocols to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, including daily screening and temperature checks before admittance to campus facilities. They will also be provided masks and will try to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
All facilities on campus will be sanitized regularly, with high-risk areas, including locker rooms, strength and conditioning spaces and athletic training rooms, cleaned daily.
To date, UConn hasn’t announced any positive tests among its student-athletes. Anyone who is found to have the virus will enter isolation protocol.
The Huskies return five players from a year ago, including three starters, and welcome six newcomers. The freshman class of Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Piath Gabriel, Mir McLean and Nika Muhl is ranked No. 2 nationally by ESPN. They’ve also added a walk-on in Lafayette (La.) Christian Academy guard Autumn Chassion.
This will be UConn’s first season back in the Big East, though it remains unclear when the games will begin. The Big East has already canceled nonconference games for fall sports, though no determination has been made yet about the winter.