MVC Coaches Zooming During Pandemic

Longing for July 20

(St. Louis, MO) – College basketball coaches are creatures of habit and typically are border-line control freaks. The covid-19 pandemic has disrupted all those tendencies. Missouri Valley Conference coaches are dealing with lock-downs and a ton of unknowns.

They are longing for July 20. That’s the tentative date when basketball teams can begin to have official contact with their players.

MVC coaches are dealing with a pandemic. There are no ‘sure-fire’ ways to conduct team building and offseason work and each coach has their own approach. While the Valley coaches are upbeat and working hard, the challenges are large.

Each school and state have different standards. Drake and Northern Iowa have had players on campus since mid-June and Loyola coaches and players are still banned from campus. Evansville coach Todd Lickliter doesn’t expect players on campus until the fall.

There Are No Clear Answers

Each Valley coach has utilized technology to continue to meet with their players and most of them feel like they have benefitted from time with family and time away from the game. Like most of us coaches are reaching out on computers, phones and on-line gatherings.

They are ‘zooming during pandemic.’

While using technology can be helpful, Bradley’s Brian Wardle says after a while, you just get ‘zoomed out’.

 

 

Evansville’s Todd Lickliter says he is content to wait out the process, but he is trying to consistently communicate the team’s core values and goals. As Lickliter heads into his first full season as the coach of the Purple Aces, he is taking a ‘safety first’ approach.

 

 

Players on Campus

Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Northern Iowa seem to have the most players on campus, or soon to be on campus. Like most coaches, UNI’s Ben Jacobson is looking forward to July 20. However, Jacobson says what his players do now, could determine how aggressive they can be later this month. The ‘dean of Valley coaches’ wants his players stay focused on the proper goals.

 

 

While Loyola has no one on campus, head coach Porter Moser says players are experiencing possibly the longest basketball layoffs of their lives. The Rambler coach says players will be rusty and have to work hard to get everything back.

 

 

Making Lemonade

Several of the coaches are following the old proverb and making lemonade out of lemons. SIU’s Bryan Mullins says he has used the coronavirus shutdown to do some personal development.

 

 

While Valparaiso’s Matt Lottich waits for the quarantine to lift, he has enjoyed time with family and is working hard at staying in touch with his staff and players.

 

 

Facing Possibilities

Every coach knows the upcoming season is at risk. With the Ivy League shutting down fall sports and the Big Ten canceling fall, non-conference games, there are plenty of storm clouds forming. Indiana State’s Greg Lansing says he is scared to death about the negative possibilities. Lansing is the son of a hall-of-fame high school basketball coach and says he can’t imagine what life would be like without a basketball season.

 

 

Realistic Dan Muller isn’t looking too far into the future. While the Illinois State coach isn’t ignorant of the possibilities, he knows there are too many ‘what ifs’ to consider. So, the eight year veteran is philosophical. Slowing down has been a good thing, and has reminded Muller how much he loves and appreciates what he does.

 

 

The NCAA has said basketball coaches can begin to meet with their players on July 20. What happens between now and then is a mystery. Once players are fully on campus, we will see how well health protocols are working.

Voluntary workouts at Louisville were stopped this week. Ohio State shutdown some activities. Major league sports are seeming delays and players opting out of the coming season. Stanford and Dartmouth are cutting some sports from their programs. As Muller says, “no one knows what’s happening next week.”

So far, these Missouri Valley Coaches are doing a lot of zooming during pandemic. We’re hoping they are playing some time soon.

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