‘I’d rather be safe than sorry.’ As UK’s season begins, COVID adjustments continue.
It was about 6:15 p.m. Monday when Morehead State Coach Preston Spradlin’s phone buzzed to alert him of a prearranged interview. He was supposed to be done with team activities since that day’s practice was scheduled for 2:15 that afternoon.
But Spradlin was driving to practice, which was rescheduled for 7 p.m. in order to get the results of the latest coronavirus testing.
This was just one of several examples of the adjust-on-the-fly world of COVID-19. Kentucky’s season-opening Bluegrass Showcase has not been immune to uncertainty and need for flexibility brought on by the pandemic.
Monday also saw Friday’s highly anticipated father-son duel between UK Coach John Calipari and his son, Detroit Mercy guard Brad Calipari, canceled. Detroit Mercy announced that there had been a positive COVID-19 test in its men’s basketball program.
“Even though this is the right decision, as a father I’m still disappointed,” the UK coach tweeted. “Was really looking forward to having @bradcalipari back this week. BUT we will reschedule the game & he’ll have an opportunity to play in @Rupp_Arena. At this point, I just hope their team remains healthy.”
The positive test came about from a member of its support staff and that individual is not experiencing any symptoms and is now in quarantine, Detroit Mercy said in a news release. No other players or coaches have tested positive although a few members of the team are in isolation due to close contact tracing.
Kentucky was scheduled to play Detroit Mercy on Friday in the second of its three games in the Bluegrass Showcase. In addition to Kentucky’s games against Morehead State on Wednesday and Richmond on Sunday, the revised schedule for the Bluegrass Showcase will have Richmond play Morehead State on Friday.
On a Zoom teleconference earlier Monday, John Calipari again expressed confidence in his Kentucky players being relatively safe in a campus life consisting of the dorm and the gym.
“The problem is when we start playing . . . ,” Calipari said. “We may travel on game day. . . . I’ve never done that before.”
Caliipari spoke of flying to games on a sanitized plane, then riding to a hotel on a sanitized bus, then back on the same bus and plane — both having been re-sanitized — for the trip home.
“I may be overdoing it,” the UK coach said. “But I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
This plan followed announcements from Ole Miss and Tennessee about adjusting schedules. The Rebels (Coach Kermit Davis has tested positive) canceled their first four games and now hope to begin the season on Dec. 12. Tennessee canceled its first two games. Both programs paused team activities.
‘Kind of difficult’
How do these cancellations play on the minds of players?
“That’s the tough part right now, especially going right to tip-off,” UK guard Davion Mintz said. “You’re having these unfortunate things happen. . . . You’ve got to stay focused on your situation.”
For UK, that means staying in the “bubble” and following the familiar guidelines about masks and social distancing.
Of Kentucky’s many freshmen, Mintz said, “It’s kind of difficult — very difficult — for those guys because they haven’t had the normal experience, which I feel terrible for them because these are really good players and really good guys.
“And everyone deserves the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of big crowds. It’s completely different and who knows when it will change.”
As for the remaining teams in the Bluegrass Showcase, the coaches for Richmond and Morehead State said their programs are being prudent about COVID. Richmond Coach Chris Mooney said his program follows the same protocols as programs in the Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences. Those include testing three times a week. “I feel our protocols are strict and stringent,” he said.
Spradlin, who worked on Calipari’s staff for five years before becoming Morehead State coach, said the Eagles follow UK’s example in dealing with COVID. “Everything the University of Kentucky does, we’ve done the same thing,” he said. “From the number of tests per week to all those things.”
To help ensure safety at the Bluegrass Showcase, the Richmond and Morehead State teams are staying at the same Lexington hotel, where COVID testing can be done in one location.
“We plan on being at three locations,” Spradlin said. The hotel. The bus. The arena. That’s it.”
‘Fool’s gold’
Adjustments have been made during this extra long preseason. Calipari said that Kentucky had piped in crowd noise at practices in order to simulate a game.
The delayed practice Spradlin was driving to Monday night promised to have a different look.
For one thing, it was at the Eagles’ home court, Ellis T. Johnson Arena (capacity 6,500), rather than the program’s new practice facility. What prompted the change of venue for several workouts this preseason was Spradlin’s desire to have players exude a lot of enthusiasm and energy.
“So we stopped practicing in our practice gym because it’s a little bit of fool’s gold,” the Morehead State coach said. “You can have just OK energy, and it sounds very loud in there. So we’ve gone back to practicing in our arena. And if you’re being overly exaggerated with your enthusiasm, then it’s going to show.”
To reduce the dull of extra weeks of practice, Morehead State has tried to mimic game conditions in workouts. Team benches are in place. Media timeouts are called. Music is played.
“We try to make it as much like a game as we can . . . ,” Spradlin said. “So that when we do get down there Wednesday night and all those natural game-day things happen, it’s not going to be foreign to us.”
Wednesday
Morehead State at No. 10 Kentucky
When: 6 p.m.
What: Bluegrass Showcase
Where: Rupp Arena (limited spectators)
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Kentucky leads 10-0.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 81-70 on Nov. 21, 2012, in Lexington.
