North Carolina’s first-round game against Wisconsin will mark the NCAA tournament debut for seven players in its rotation. That is, if this even counts as a true tournament experience.
The COVID-19 protocols put in place to get 68 teams down to crowning one champion have made this season a very different NCAA Tournament.
There’s no shootaround that often dissolves into a dunk or trick-shot contest that’s open to the public at the arena. There’s no NCAA-mandated open locker rooms where media from all over the nation descend to tell every personal story. There’s no down time to explore Indianapolis with the family. There’s not even a chance to take the entire team out to a restaurant for dinner.
It’s a lot of isolation in a hotel room. Practice. And a whole lot of waiting around for Friday’s 7 p.m. tipoff.
“We haven’t seen any pomp and circumstance, we haven’t seen anything,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Today (Wednesday) was the first day we came down and had our own private meal room. The only thing we’ve been doing is staying in our room and swabbing our noses every six hours is what feels like. It’s been difficult guys, it hasn’t been nearly as much fun.”
Carolina arrived in Indianapolis on Monday evening -- after learning they were going to fly out early morning the same day. Williams said they went straight to their hotel rooms and even had their meals placed outside of their doors.
Senior forward Garrison Brooks said the players have mainly been playing cards and hanging out in the hallway of their floor. They are careful not to even go in each others’ rooms. Brooks’ most eventful, non-basketball action in Indiana?
“(Tuesday), I watched Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3 so they pretty much that took the whole day,” Brooks said.
A BUS RIDE TO WEST LAFAYETTE
Wednesday felt like a field trip when UNC players got to walk around Victory Field, the home to Indianapolis’ Triple-A baseball team, by circling the warning track all the way to home plate.
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, understands that walking around a baseball field may not sound like much. But the rules are in place to get through three-plus weeks without having an outbreak. He said many coaches expressed how important having outside time was for the mental health of their players.
“They’ve lived the challenges throughout the entire regular season, things are going quite well now,” Gavitt said. “No one is letting their guard down, no one is making any assumptions about the lack of challenges going forward, but so far, so good.”
Williams, a noted lunch-time walker, said he walked around the convention center while his team lifted for 45 minutes in a weight room made specifically for the Tar Heels.
Williams also said they get to practice in Mackey Arena on the campus of Purdue on Wednesday. But he didn’t realize West Lafayette, Ind., which is about an hour’s drive northwest of Indianapolis, was so far away.
“Today, the monotony is really going to be broken up,” Williams said. “We’re going to have a two and a half hours on the bus. It hasn’t exactly been Maui.”
That goes for Wisconsin too. Head coach Greg Gard said they just got foosball and a ping pong table added to their team meeting room in the hotel. And that most of the Badgers’ have taken to playing spike ball.
Brooks and Andrew Platek and junior Leaky Black are the only UNC players who will face Wisconsin that have played in the NCAA tournament. So on one hand, the majority of Carolina’s players really don’t know that they’re missing out on a bigger experience.
MORE TO DO IN LATER ROUNDS
But should Carolina advance past the first weekend of the tournament, they might get a chance to experience something closer to normal. Gavitt said it was difficult to plan activities for 68 teams, but as the numbers get smaller, it becomes easier to navigate.
“We’ve got some things planned for teams that advance to do more, including activities outside, in a controlled environment, such as Top Golf and Indianapolis Zoo,” Gavitt said. “So teams that will have a more extended stay here will have some more kind of entertainment options, that that will be a good break of things for student-athletes.”
Brooks said he didn’t think players are getting enough credit for being in a position to pull of the tournament. Even with teams like Virginia being in question due to contact tracing, the fact that it’s not dozens more means a lot of players stayed disciplined and followed protocols.
“Players had to sacrifice a lot of things to be able to compete this year,” Brooks said. “I think that’s something that everybody should thank college athletes for this year.”
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NCAA TOURNAMENT: NORTH CAROLINA VS. WISCONSIN
When: 7 p.m. EST, Friday
Watch: CBS
