U of L re-opening campus to some athletes next week, cautions about football season
Football players and men’s and women’s basketball players at the University of Louisville will begin returning to campus next week, the school announced Thursday.
Some students from those sports will return May 27 and begin voluntary workouts June 8. A decision on when athletes in other sports can resume team activities has not yet been announced by the NCAA.
All Louisville athletics competition was suspended on March 17 because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release, the school announced that athletics administrators and health officials had been planning a phased return for “weeks.”
The University of Kentucky has not yet announced a timeline for its athletes’ return to campus, but the Southeastern Conference is expected to issue guidelines soon.
“We have worked very closely with our campus leadership, medical professionals and coaching staffs to prepare a comprehensive plan for a safe return to campus for our student-athletes to participate in voluntary activities,” Louisville Vice President/Director of Athletics Vince Tyra said. “The multi-phased plan avails a limited number of student-athletes to return at various dates and get back to routines they are accustomed to at this time of year.”
Under the first phase of the plan the school expects about 30 football players, 15 men’s basketball players and 15 women’s basketball players to return to campus May 27 after receiving instruction on safety protocols.
The Schnellenberger Football Complex and the Trager Center, an indoor practice facility, will be opened with limited occupancy during the first phase along with the Keuber Center, which is home to training facilities and offices for men’s and women’s basketball.
U of L is prepared to reopen more campus facilities and bring back athletes in additional sports during the first and subsequent phases, subject to NCAA guidance. It’s prepared to allow up to 15 members of the swimming and diving team to return to campus and reopen the Ralph Wright Natatorium with limited occupancy if the NCAA decides to permit that sport to resume voluntary workouts; that decision could come as early as Friday, Tyra said.
The NCAA Division I council on Wednesday voted to allow schools to begin allowing voluntary workouts on June 1. On-field coaches at this time are not allowed to provide instruction but strength-and-condition staff members can provide guidance.
Louisville is set to kick off its 2020 football season at home against North Carolina State on Sept. 3. Tyra cautioned against interpreting the allowance of voluntary workouts as a sign that the college football season will start as scheduled.
Getting athletes back on campus, at this stage, is more about aiding their mental and physical routines, Tyra said, but U of L is “certainly planning for” the season to begin on time.
“Just like we were planning for this today,” Tyra said, noting that June 1 was the long-standing target date for voluntary workouts to resume. “ … I always joke that if it weren’t for deadlines, nothing would ever get done. So I think our view is we set deadlines and work toward making sure we’re well-prepared for those dates. We’re still preparing and thinking about football as if it’s gonna start on time.”
Having full practice participation going by the end of July or early August is essential to meeting that goal, Tyra said. He told reporters that some other schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference aren’t yet ready to have athletes return to their campuses. No formal discussions have occurred, but the notion of playing the college football season without some schools within the conference on board has been brought up informally among the schools.
“If all schools, 100 percent, aren’t ready to go for whatever reason that might be, their school at the institutional level, their state or maybe they’re in a hot spot, it’s problematic,” Tyra said. “Could I foresee the season starting with not every conference member ready to start when they say ‘Go?’ It could happen.
“I think that people … are committed to go and want to have as much uniformity here as possible. But if it’s not possible, it’s not unanimous, then I don’t see the tail wagging the dog. I think the dog will play on.”
During Phase 2 Louisville would allow 30 more football players and 60 Olympic sport athletes to return to campus June 10. Phase 3 would see the remainder of the football team return to campus July 6. Up to 60 athletes in other sports would be included in this phase.
During Phase 4, all remaining athletes would return to campus in late July and August. U of L emphasized in the press release that all plans are subject to NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference guidelines and will be adjusted as needed. The school said a slew of safety measures, such as requirements to wear face masks, temperature checks and robust sanitization efforts, will be implemented to minimize the threat of COVID-19. The university also will be discouraging athletes who return to avoid leaving their dorms except for training purposes.
Tyra couldn’t detail the overall cost associated with those measures.
“It’s not significant to get started, is what I would tell you,” Tyra said. “When you’re buying hand sanitizer in 55-gallon barrels and you’re buying the bulk of masks we’re talking about, these are not the ones that people are peddling for $5 or $8 apiece.”
The basketball teams, conceivably, could have all of their scholarship athletes return next week, but Tyra doesn’t expect that to happen, saying that athletes’ personal circumstances take precedence. On the football side, coordinators have been in communication with head coach Scott Satterfield, and Tyra expects the group that begins working out in phase one will include a mix of veteran and younger players on both sides of the ball.
Tyra said about 25 to 30 staff members will be necessary to support the department’s efforts in phase one.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 1:39 PM.
