MANHATTAN, Kan. _ Bruce Weber would like to definitively say that Kansas State's basketball players were excited for their first organized practice of the summer earlier this week, but it's hard for him to judge things like excitement levels at the moment.
"You can't see anyone's face," Weber said, "because they are all wearing masks. But I do think we have had a great few days of workouts. Our guys did a good job with all their voluntary weights and shooting and I think that carried over into our mandatory time. Everything has been very positive."
After a long hiatus, the Wildcats on Monday held their first basketball practice since the 2019-20 season ended abruptly at the Big 12 Tournament in March. It felt good for everyone involved to be back on the floor, but it wasn't your typical practice session.
Instead of working out as one large group, three pods of teammates rotated in and out of the gym in order to reduce the odds of coronavirus cases spreading across the roster. K-State's five freshmen made up one pod, while coaches spread out the team's older players across the other two pods. Social distancing was preferred over team huddles. And everyone in attendance wore masks from start to finish.
That will take some getting used to.
"You don't notice it until you have to talk," Weber said. "They don't always hear you as well as normal, and I have found that when I am trying to demonstrate something on the court it is hard to catch your breath. It's hard for our players to catch their breath. It has not been easy. You can see as the workouts go on their energy levels drop."
Though K-State players would never to choose to wear masks while practicing basketball, they are happy to do so in order to return to some sense of normalcy in the middle of a pandemic and prepare for the 2020-21 season.
For now, they understand precautions are necessary.
"We are all just trying to keep our kids on the court," Weber said. "There are a lot of places that started and have been shut down. Some other places haven't even been allowed to start. We have talked a lot about that Doc Rivers quote about 'winning the wait.' We have got to take things day-by-day and just deal with it and make the most of it."
Weber said no one on K-State's roster has tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus, but antibody testing revealed some players had it and recovered during the spring.
The Wildcats haven't encountered any major problems since they resumed voluntary workouts this month, but Weber said they have had some issues with players reporting small health issues. Every time a player complains about having an upset stomach, the team has to be "very cautious and get him re-tested" before he can return to workouts. In the past, that type of ailment would have been written off as mundane.
