BOWLING GREEN — The spread of coronavirus shut down this college basketball season in the midst of the postseason, but stay-at-home orders also will impact what comes next for college hoops.
This weekend was the planned date for Final Four, which coincides with huge numbers of coaches traveling to attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention, held concurrently in the same city as the games.
It's also normally an important time for recruiting, as the April evaluation period allows coaches to conduct home visits with high-school juniors for the first time, recruit off campus, evaluate the flurry of transfers that happen at the end of the season, and prepare to host rising sophomores on unofficial visits later in the summer.
But the Final Four and NABC convention are canceled, and everything else is on hold.
"We definitely don't know about recruitment, if they're going to allow us to go out, and if we're allowed to out, are they going to have the tournaments? Can we gather?" Bowling Green coach Michael Huger said. "This stuff is so unpredictable, so we don't really know what it will be.
"It's hard to say because we don't even know if we'll have school in September."
At Bowling Green, the Falcons' roster likely will undergo significant turnover with the possibility for even more. Most of the BG frontcourt is slated to return, but the guard ranks will be a different story.
Three scholarship seniors — Dylan Frye, who holds the school's all-time record for 3-pointers, and two of their top three bench players in point guard Mike Laster and forward Marlon Sierra — were in their final years of eligibility when the season ended.
Then, on March 22, leading scorer Justin Turner entered the transfer portal. The combo guard remains uncommitted for the 2020-21 season.
Bowling Green will return Davin Zeigler, who started for the final month of the 2019-20 season as a freshman, as well as rising junior Caleb Fields.
BG also has signed two incoming guards in Josiah Fulcher and Kaden Metheny, both of whom could factor into the rotation immediately next season.
"The biggest thing is how quickly we can gel and mesh because now you have new people at new positions," Huger said. "We had Dylan running the point for the last couple years. Justin, whether he's back or not — if he's back, that helps you right there. If he's not, you've got to develop other guys and develop them fast."
But even that part of the offseason has been drastically altered. Campuses are shuttered as universities have moved to online-only classes. Ohio and Ohio State already have canceled in-person classes for spring semesters, as well as commencements.
Returning players normally go through individual work at this point of the season, but everyone is now at home with varying levels of access to workout equipment and gym time.
"We usually have this time to do postseason workouts and hit the weight room to get bigger and stronger. We lost all of that, so that's out the window," Huger said. "Then you normally have the summer to get your freshmen in and prepare for the season, and we don't know if that's going to be on."
If college basketball teams can’t reconvene until the late summer or the fall, Huger said it’s up to each program to prioritize what it has to do in an abbreviated offseason.
But, if it comes to pass, Huger said they will be ready.
"If we don't get in until then, we've got to map that out for individual work, team work, and the weight room," Huger said. "All of that has to be more condensed, and you've got to hit it early and hit it hard. You don't have time to waste at that point.”
First Published March 30, 2020, 10:39 p.m.
