Coaches wearing masks. Players wearing masks. Inconvenient and uncomfortable? Sure. But it’s absolutely necessary as Oklahoma basketball returned to the hardwood Monday morning.
All Sooners players and coaches returned to Norman last week and were tested for the coronavirus (COVID-19) with zero positive cases coming back.
“It's great to have them back,” said head coach Lon Kruger on a Zoom call Friday afternoon. “For the most part, I think they've done a terrific job of working out on their own and staying safe. We've been able to start with some form of workouts on Monday. It's not a full-blown workout by any means. It's kind of resolved into a lot of shooting, a lot of team shooting, working in smaller groups, distancing a little bit in practice.
“Four times a week, 45 minutes to an hour each time. We're lifting three or four times a week as well so you have the four hours on the court, four hours off the court conditioning-wise. It's been good.”
For Kruger, it’s all about attitude. He has preached to his team about having a positive attitude and being able to navigate the pandemic in the best and safest way possible.
He praised OU’s leadership for how it has handled the pandemic, and a little inconvenience now is OK if it leads to the desired result and a season being played in the winter.
“They understand that it's not convenient to wear a mask when you are running around on a basketball court, but they understand it's important,” Kruger said. “Most important, when they leave practice and they aren't around our group, that they still make good decisions on the evening and on the weekends. So far they have done that. We just have to remain flexible.”
Although, the name of the game is going to be flexibility, college basketball is going to have some help, some guidance on what to do or not to do based on how things shake out in Orlando with the NBA’s bubble approach.
“Our conference offices are talking to the NBA folks a lot about gaining from their experiences of what they did, what they liked, what they would have changed,” Kruger said. “Absolutely, that will be some shared information and kind of knowledge folks will take advantage of.”
Schedule adjustments
Wearing masks and social distancing aren’t the only adjustments having to be made. Obviously, the schedule of the season and of the summer has been impacted.
Kruger did say there are zero changes to the season’s schedule at this time, but the way summer workouts are traditionally done has certainly been altered.
“Normally, our guys come in the start of June and here for eight weeks of summer school,” Kruger said. “We get those eight weeks to work out. Turns out the first time we got them on the court was July 20. Now we’re allowed those four hours a week right up to the start of school in August.”
Usually, the players go home Aug. 1 before everything starts back up. This year, there will be no breaks in the workout routine. Doesn’t make up for losing essentially eight weeks, but it’s nothing they can adjust with moving forward.
“Get those other three weeks of August to actually work out on the court,” Kruger said. “Those type of schedules are different but all doable, for sure.”
The season is still on as schedule, but just like football has said there is contingency plan after contingency plan, same goes on the hardwood.
“Each program tries to anticipate one of four or five different scenarios,” Kruger said. “Are we playing non-conference? Are we not playing non-conference? If we’re not playing what we have scheduled in the non-conference, are we changing our schedule and do it smaller pods? Everything’s being discussed.”
Essentially, everything remains the same until told differently. At that point, Plan Bs, Plan Cs would have to come into play.
Transfers up in the air
OU is returning an experienced group, but the Sooners could add a lot more in that department, depending on how two transfer waivers turn out.
Guards Mo Gibson (North Texas) and Elijah Harkless (Cal State Northridge) have transferred to OU, but as it stands right now, neither would be eligible for the upcoming season.
Although sources say OU would be OK if Harkless sits out a year to redshirt, getting Gibson approved would be a huge benefit for the Sooners.
“It’s kind of a case-by-case waiver request for immediate eligibility,” Kruger said. “We’ll do that for both Umoja and Elijah going forward. We’re in the process of developing that information right now. We’ll send it off to the NCAA at some point in hopes of getting a positive response but nothing new other than that.”
A proposed rule for a one-time transfer exception did not pass in the spring, and Kruger said there is no timeline as to when they’ll know about the waiver decisions.
On the court, Gibson and Harkless are doing just fine.
“Great energy, great enthusiasm for being here,” Kruger said. “Both really athletic and active and competitive, so all those things you want in a player, especially a transfer, in terms of attitude and work ethic certainly appear to be there so we’re excited about those guys.”
More, the merrier
One option that has been thrown out there for college football is to wait until the spring before beginning the season.
It’s not the most desired approach, but it’s something that even OU coach Lincoln Riley said is certainly feasible.
Things could get crowded in the sports arena if you have college football and basketball going on at the same time. But that’s no problem, said Kruger.
“We need football. We need revenue from football,” Kruger said. “We need those guys to have those opportunities to compete. However we have to do it is great. If we do it all in the spring, it’ll certainly be a crowded TV calendar, that’s for sure. But that’s fine. We’ll live with it and make whatever work.”