HARTFORD, Conn. _ UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma cautiously plans to have his players return to campus July 26, with workouts to begin a few days later, but getting three Huskies back from outside the country is proving problematic due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
Anna Makurat has to return from Poland, Nika Muhl from Croatia and Aaliyah Edwards from Canada.
"You would think something is as simple as going to the Canadian border and drive across," Auriemma said Wednesday during a 40-minute Zoom call with state reporters. "Those days are over. Nika needs to fly over from Zagreb, but the U.S. Embassy hasn't been open, so getting a visa has become a real problem. They're not letting international flights coming into the U.S. except for citizens of the United States, so Anna is not going to have an easy time."
The same issues are in play for members of other UConn athletic teams, and many non-athletes. Auriemma said the school is working with Connecticut's congressional delegation to resolve issues for all international students.
"That's the way the world works," Auriemma said. "Professional athletes have no problem traveling back and forth, so we started asking questions like, 'why is that?' And we've got some really good people in Washington, D.C., looking into it. How do we do that for international students, not just athletes, kids who have enrolled here, are going to school. What's the issue here? Why can't we get that resolved, because they don't make 20 million a year playing in the NBA, or Major League Baseball or the NHL or whatever? ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something can be done to facilitate these kids being able come over and go to school."
UConn began allowing some athletes on campus as early as June 26 as a pilot program for re-opening the campus in August. The men's basketball players were the first to return. The football players began returning Wednesday.
Auriemma chose to wait. "That's the decision I made," he said. "I didn't want them here any earlier. You can't work with players until July 20 anyway, so why bring them here in June?"
As he points out, UConn has had hundreds of students all through the coronavirus shut-downs, those who could not return home, and by following health safety guidelines have not had a positive COVID-19 test. "So our campus is a really safe place to be right now," Auriemma said.
Auriemma expects at least his seven players in the U.S. to be on campus July 26. There will be a quarantine period, at least until all their test results are in, and then they can work in small groups in the Werth Center.
In the meantime, no one can say if the college basketball season will begin on time.
"I'm not confident on anything anymore," Auriemma said. "A month ago, I thought we were on the right track, things were great. We've done all the right things here in Connecticut. Then each week since then, it seems there's one new place setting records (for new cases). I don't know what to think anymore. If they figure out a way to do college football, which they are going to leave no stones unturned to get that to happen, believe me, then we'll be OK. If they don't, then all bets are off for everybody.
"In the big scheme of things, with what we're dealing with as a society, whether or not we get to practice and get ready for our season, 90 percent of the American public could (not) give a damn. I can't tell you anything is definite."
