Sac State’s COVID-19 basketball season started on the blacktop and on fields
The building blocks to the men’s basketball season did not start indoors for the Sacramento State Hornets, the first indicator of a curious COVID-19 campaign.
Summer conditioning drills for the team were held outdoors, on the blacktop. Coaches wore masks and gloves to deal with the virus. Players initially could not pass to teammates. It was like going boating without a boat, fishing without a pole, bowling without pins.
The Hornets worked out under the unrelenting sun, sometimes under an orangish sky from lung-clogging smoke from outlining wildfires. It all gave extra meaning to the “sweat equity” roots of team bonding that coach Brian Katz preaches. In his 13th season heading the Hornets, the coach can now say he’s been through it all.
Sac State’s 30th season at the Division I level and 74th overall will be its most atypical. No one in Hornets colors has complained. The alternative was no workouts and no season.
One thing we do know is the coronavirus pandemic will hover over this basketball season across the country. People will continue with the “expect the unexpected” theme. The Ivy League opted to not even give it a go. So did the Northridge women’s program. High schools in California are mostly just hoping to have any sort of sports seasons in the coming weeks and months.
‘Oh my gosh! This is unbelievable!’
Sac State coaches and players are tested several times a week for COVID-19. Each does so with a grimace — no one rushes to the front of the line to have a stick stuffed up his nose — but also with the understanding that it allows for the season to have legs.
The Hornets will navigate a shortened schedule — the 25-game slate is the smallest for the Hornets since 1973 — and will cut down on travel to avoid as many people as possible. Sac State has just three nonconference games on the road, all of them a bus ride to and back: at Santa Clara on Dec. 12, at Stanford on Dec. 21 and at Saint Mary’s on Dec. 30. Sac State will host UC Davis on Dec. 19.
“Every phase of this for everyone here has been sort of an ‘Oh my gosh! This is unbelievable,’” Katz said in his typical good cheer. “We’d look at each other and think, ‘Hey, we get to actually practice? With a ball?’ Didn’t matter where it was. First day in the gym? We looked around and felt giddy, to the point it was almost eerie.”
The outdoor workouts also included marking off a court of sorts on the football field. Find a way.
Sac State’s opener Nov. 25 against small-school Bethesda University of Anaheim played out with mixed feelings. No fans were allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions, meaning no band, no students, no boosters, no energy. It was so quiet you could hear sneakers squeak and the ball bounce.
But there was a game, and the Hornets impressed in a 101-57 rout. That the game was even played was a victory in and of itself. More than 410 collegiate games were canceled last week, men and women, spanning all divisions.
”We’re euphoric for our guys, thrilled to even play,” Katz said later. “If the season were to shut down, and we don’t know what will happen, I’d be worried about the mental health of our guys, of any player anywhere. It’s been so good for these kids to be together. When you come to college, on a basketball scholarship, it’s their passion, the time of their life. But we know the virus will continue to affect everyone.”
This is Katz’s best team since his magical 2014-15 group went 21-12. This may be his most athletic and versatile team, a credit to a man who can recruit despite having some of the poorest facilities in all of Division I. The Hornets are led by fourth-year starting guard Bryce Fowler, senior guards with regional roots in Christian Terrell (Sacramento High) and Will FitzPatrick (Vista del Lago), returning guard Brandon Davis, returning forwards Ethan Esposito and Spencer Monteiro and promising freshman Teiano Hardee of Vanden High in Fairfield.
The Hornets are bound by a rarity in D-I: coaching stability. Katz signed a multi-year extension in March and is again flanked by associate head coach Brandon Laird and Chris Walker and Nate Smith, each in their 10th season on the bench. Director of operations Ajay Riding is in his 12th year.
Katz addressed his staff and players after a workout on Thanksgiving, thankful to have them and a season, as long as it may last.
“Every day we have basketball,” Katz said, “is a day to celebrate.”
‘It’s literally like Russian roulette.’
For players such as the marvelously talented 6-foot-5 Terrell, the season is one to embrace. As a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, Terrell saw his first action in two years against Bethesda.
“So excited to just play again,” he said.
Fowler, the 6-6 guard from Arizona, said as a team leader he reminds teammates that the season is within their hands. They can do their part on the court and away from it.
”We appreciate the fact that we get to play,” Fowler said, “We remind each other to be smart when we’re away from the game. If we want to play, we have to stay away from typical things people are age want to do.”
Such as parties and hanging out. The virus is spreading among young people.
“It’s this simple: the virus is super contagious,” Katz said. “It’s literally Russian roulette. We have no idea who has it until they have it. We have to protect each other and those around us. Some people have no symptoms and others wind up on ventilators. We can’t just say as a team, ‘We’re young, we’re strong.’”
The coach added, “That’s not the issue. How many people do we all know who are at risk of this virus: age, preexisting conditions? A lot. We have to defer to the health experts.”
