Already in North Carolina for its win Friday night over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech’s basketball team won’t return to Atlanta before the ACC Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will stay in North Carolina to prepare for the ACC Tournament in Greensboro that begins Tuesday.
In fact, coach Josh Pastner’s plan is for the team to not return until the Yellow Jackets, whose spot in the NCAA Tournament field seems all but a certainty, are through in that event, also. Saturday, the team was already in Greensboro.
“The next time we go back home to Atlanta will be whenever our season’s completed,” Pastner said after Tech’s 75-63 win at Wake Forest on Friday night. “If we win the national championship on April 5, or whenever that is, or we lose a game, we (won’t return until then). We’ve tried to create a bubble with us on the road to do the best we can to protect from COVID. To do the very best we can, we’re going to stay in a group together on the road.”
With the team now entering the postseason, the impact of a COVID-19 pause becomes dramatically higher. Tech will begin ACC Tournament play Thursday. The NCAA Tournament, which this year will be staged entirely in Indiana, begins March 18 with the First Four, followed by the first round March 19 and 20.
A positive test and subsequent quarantining and contact tracing at any point forward could easily remove the Jackets from either or both postseason competitions. When the Jackets went on a COVID pause Jan. 5, the next game they were cleared to play in took place Jan. 16.
It’s conceivable that a pause could be of a shorter length, but even a break of only a few days could mean the end, either in Greensboro or in the NCAA Tournament. The potential for teams having to drop out is such a concern for the NCAA that it created a backup plan to have replacement teams ready in the days leading to the start of the tournament.
The ACC Tournament is played over five consecutive days, Tuesday through March 13. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced March 14. Potential NCAA Tournament teams that determine that they cannot play in their first game (either March 18, 19 or 20) must inform the tournament selection committee by 11 p.m. March 13.
Once the NCAA Tournament begins, if a team is unable to participate in a game, it will be required to withdraw.
Staying in North Carolina for the next week will reduce travel and likely enable players, coaches and staff to create more of a bubble environment than they could on campus and at their homes. Pastner told the AJC Saturday that the staff made the decision to stay in North Carolina on Wednesday.
“Because of that, we just felt (it was smart) to create a bubble since we’re already out this way at this point,” Pastner said.
Pastner said that the plan is for the travel party, at or close to the NCAA limit of 34, to be severely restricted in its interaction with people outside of the group.
“We’re just in our rooms and in the meeting room and film room and then hit practice,” he said. “That’s it.”
Before arriving in Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament, all players, coaches and staff in a team travel party must pass seven consecutive daily COVID-19 tests, and tests will continue on a daily basis for the duration of teams’ stays. Teams will travel to Indianapolis by charter bus or charter flight, arranged by the NCAA.
Being away from campus for such an extended period normally would create significant academic challenges. However, with the number of classes that are being taught virtually, it figures not to present nearly the same issues.
“Obviously, we’ll have designated times for academics every day on the road,” Pastner said.
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