'Culmination of everything': Why UVM women's basketball decided not to finish season
The University of Vermont women's basketball team hasn't played a game since Jan. 4. Its last full-fledged practice was eight days later.
Then came Friday's news: UVM issued a two-week pause for all sports — no games, no practices, no team activities — due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases within the athletic department.
After all the uncertainty, the starts and stops — and the fear of testing positive for coronavirus and the potential health risks that come with it — players on the UVM women's basketball team reached a tipping point.
They decided, as a team, they wouldn't resume the 2020-21 season. The school made the announcement Sunday afternoon.
Earlier:UVM women's basketball team decides not to finish 2020-21 season
Earlier:UVM announces pause for sports teams due to outbreak of COVID-19 cases
"It was the culmination of the unknown, it just took its toll on our players, and no fault to anybody," coach Alisa Kresge said. "This was really a culmination of everything coming to a head in my opinion."
Kresge and athletic director Jeff Schulman held a news conference Monday morning with local media, offering up answers and relaying the players' thought process on their choice to cut short the Catamounts' most promising campaign in an over a decade.
"I told them that I've just been incredibly impressed with their commitment and their courage since they arrived on campus in the summer," Schulman said. "Even this decision takes a lot of courage and I told them I am proud of them for prioritizing what's in their best interests, I'm proud of the way they discussed it collectively as a team and arrived at the decision to no longer continue with the season.
"I feel really good about the future of our women's basketball program."
No players were made available by UVM to speak Monday, and when asked why that was the case during the news conference, Schulman said it could be arranged. Later Monday, an athletic department spokesman said Kresge preferred to give players time to process the news before speaking with media members later this week.
Without the benefit of first-person accounts from players, here are the biggest takeaways on the reasons behind the decision and what it means for the program and department:
Not an 'overnight' decision by players
According to Kresge, players wrestled for weeks with continuing the season or opting out. Kresge called it an internal struggle.
"This wasn't easy. This didn't happen overnight, there were a lot of factors that went into this," Kresge said. "As a staff, we told them we would be in this with them no matter direction we went in and we totally agree with what they are doing."
Players met individually with the coaching staff, with administration and they weighed every option, Kresge said.
Kresge said there was no player vote and some players "felt strongly one way or another" but the team came to the decision as a unified group.
"There was a lot of communication with themselves," Kresge said. "We really wanted everyone to have a voice and I believe they did. They decided as a team that it wasn't in our best interests."
What were some of the players' biggest concerns?
Letting down teammates was high on the list — "They didn't want to do that to each other," Kresge said — but players also grew tired of quarantine stretches, and worried over their well-being and safety.
"If some of them decided to keep playing and their future got cut short because they got sick, that was something that was weighing on them," Kresge said. "The fear outweighed continuing to do this. I think it's a mixed bag of frustration — they put so much into this, they gave it their all, they sacrificed so much and so much time with family and loved ones and they couldn't see this through.
"But also it's a little bit of relief that they don't have to wake up in the unknown every day and the fear of getting sick."
The Catamounts (4-2) finished on a three-game winning streak. Freshman Anna Olson was named America East Conference rookie of the week three times.
UVM quiet on number of COVID cases
Friday, UVM declined to provide the total number of positive COVID test results within the athletic department that led to the outbreak. The men's and women's hockey and men's basketball programs all had at least one case among their Tier 1 personnel — which includes athletes, coaches and managers — in recent weeks.
The last UVM sports contest, Maine at men's basketball game, took place on Jan. 17.
When asked Monday about the positive tests within the women's hoops team, Schulman said he wouldn't share those figures but there have been "multiple cases" within the program since the start of the season and the department has "seen an uptick generally over the past couple weeks."
"This wasn't a situation where we had no players left to play. The decision was made, as (Kresge) described it, collectively and after some really healthy conversations," he said.
According to UVM's weekly testing report, there were 4,037 tests administered between Jan. 18-24 for students, faculty and staff.
Of that count, 31 students — 25 of whom live off campus — tested positive for COVID-19. Eight UVM staffers tested positive last week.
UVM's athletes are tested three times per week to meet state and NCAA guidelines.
Will more UVM teams follow suit?
Other UVM teams are not "quite as far as long as women's basketball" when it comes to potentially pulling the plug on their seasons, Schulman said.
"There is no question that individual athletes are having these conversations with coaches and teammates," Schulman said. "I do know some teams have had collective conversations about it."
Schulman said he understands what the school is asking of athletes.
"We've been very clear with everybody from the start, that it really is a personal choice whether they want to participate this year — knowing there are dynamics within teams that people feel a sense of responsibility to their teammates, which is important," Schulman said. "But we really want to make sure students feel freedom to make the choices that are in their best interests."
If the COVID situation worsens, UVM could make the decision to forego the remainder of teams' seasons.
"We are going to continue to always prioritize the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff," Schulman said. "But also within that context, to make every effort we can to get our teams to the finish line if that's what they want.
"We are not going to do anything that puts the community or anybody at risk," he said.
What does this mean for scholarships, eligibility?
When it comes to eligibility, the NCAA has given a free pass to all athletes. That means 2020-21 won't count against an athlete's four years of playing eligibility.
For the UVM women's basketball program, a dozen of the 13 players on the roster are either freshmen, sophomores or juniors. The lone senior, Josie Larkins, who applied for graduate school at UVM, has a spot on the team waiting for her should she want it, Kresge said.
Schulman confirmed UVM would honor the program's scholarships.
"I don't want them to think of the season as a failure in any way," Schulman said. "I think we accomplished a lot as a team. I think this year has been very successful in terms of laying a foundation for future."
Said Kresge: "Trust me, we love basketball — there are more games ahead."
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
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