Four months ago, the Missouri Valley Conference hosted Arch Madness in St. Louis. The world seemed much different then. Selection Sunday was a week away and we were gearing up to watch what was shaping up to be a March Madness for the books.
Oh, what could’ve been.
Selection Sunday didn’t have the usual pomp and circumstance. Arch Madness proved to be one of the only conference tournaments to be played in full as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sports world to a standstill within a week of Bradley’s championship victory over Valparaiso. Recruiting went virtual amid dead periods, forcing teams to keep in touch via Zoom, FaceTime, text messages and other ways that were unthinkable a decade ago.
Even today, it’s still unclear how — and if — college sports will return as the pandemic rages on. When MVC commissioner Doug Elgin was asked if he’d be comfortable playing games if the season started today, his answer was simple: “I would not.”
“I think it’s a little bit too early to make some of those determinations as to whether or not we could start a fall season right now,” Elgin said on Tuesday’s teleconference. “I think things may look a lot differently, probably will, when we turn the calendar to August. I do think that we’re soon going to be reaching a point where we’re going to have to make some of those very tough decisions.”
Photo Credit: Nick Schultz
Some programs, such as Southern Illinois and Illinois State, are making their way back to campus. But others, such as Loyola Chicago, aren’t yet. Ramblers coach Porter Moser said his goal is to have everyone back and through protocols by July 20, when the NCAA allows summer workouts to start back up again.
“Our student-athletes are still not back, we’re still not in the offices, our campus is still closed, but I think we’re moving in that direction,” said Moser. “We’re hoping to start bringing some guys into their quarantine phase here the end of this week, next week … but as of right now, we haven’t been on campus, coaches or players, yet.”
One major question regarding the return to campus is getting international athletes back. While Moser said redshirt senior Aher Uguak is the only player outside the U.S. — back in his native Canada — he expects the 6’6” forward to be back because other athletes from his area have been returning as essential travel. Illinois State coach Dan Muller said Alex Kotov is back home in Russia and likely won’t be back until Aug. 1, but he expects everyone else on the roster to be back in time.
Photo Credit: Nick Schultz
But Bradley, which has four international athletes on its 2020-21 roster, is also preparing for what could happen if the university goes online this coming semester. ICE released a statement July 6 that international students wouldn’t be given visas if universities move all online, which could heavily impact the Braves’ rotation. Three international players saw more than 10 minutes per game for Bradley last season, including 2020 All-Bench Team nominee Ville Tahvanainen.
“As of right now … I know Bradley University’s hoping to have some in-person classes and hopefully it can stay that way and those guys can all come back and be in attendance for class,” said coach Brian Wardle. “Obviously if that rule kicks in and we go online, that could have a very negative effect on our program because we have some significant pieces to our team [who] are international players … that we hope can be here for the season and we plan on them being here, obviously.”