MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At this time of year, college basketball coaches at all levels can usually be found in the top rows of bleachers around West Virginia, getting an in-person look at prospective players to fill their rosters for future seasons. This is true for top-level, nationally-known recruits like Poca’s Isaac McKneely but also for the many Division II programs around the state.
With gymnasiums now empty due to Governor Jim Justice’s decision to delay the start of the winter sports seasons until at least March 1, student-athletes that are seeking opportunities to play at the next level are having to resort to other options for exposure.
“We had two players go play in Myrtle Beach last week,” said Morgantown High School boys basketball coach Dave Tallman. “That’s what is going on. ‘Big Shots’ is having tournaments. A lot of people are going to make money off of this and our guys are going to go play other places.”
While West Virginia high school athletes are prohibited from engaging in any official team activities, seasons are underway or soon to launch in all five surrounding states. Basketball season in Ohio began prior to Thanksgiving. Virginia opened up in December. Kentucky, portions of Maryland and Pennsylvania are opening up in early January.
With the state’s latest coronavirus restrictions expiring this morning, high schools sports are one of the many activities allowed to resume. https://t.co/Tnth48CNYj
— Shelby Cassesse (@ShelbyCassesse) January 4, 2021
“We are the only ones not playing right now,” Tallman said. “I don’t think the NCAA is going to push back the AAU live period for West Virginia. It is a travesty for our young men. People say, ‘Oh, it is not about sports’. But a full scholarship to college is a full scholarship to college. These guys are trying to go after it and it is life-changing for them. They are being kind of ripped from that.”
When Justice announced on November 13 that all winter sports were originally postponed until at least January 11, the SSAC reworked the calendar for winter and spring sports seasons. That calendar pushed state basketball tournaments until early-April. It is likely that timeline will be pushed back even further now.
“There’s five live periods in AAU where college coaches can come out and recruit,” Tallman said. “Two of those are in April. I think all of our guys play AAU. Especially your guys that are going to be Division I-caliber, that’s when they can really get their looks, like Jaidyn West at Notre Dame and kids like that.”
Many coaches revised their schedules to open up play in late-January. However, Governor Justice has yet to officially announce if March 1 is the date for competitions or practices to begin.
“I don’t know if we should start playing right now with the way the numbers are,” Tallman said. “But start getting the teachers vaccinated and things like that and at least let out kids come in and start conditioning and get ready. He hasn’t even said if that March 1st date is the first day of practice or the first game. Nobody knows anything, except for him.”
“From the standpoint of us playing sports and everything like that, we may very well look at March 1st as the game start date,” Governor Justice said at Monday’s press briefing. “And we may very well step back and look at conditioning and everything like that. But we know one thing for certain, don’t we? We cannot be moving sports ahead of everything and absolutely starting back and playing sports in seven days. Do we not know that?”
The state’s COVID metrics map has been used throughout the entire fall sports season to determine which counties are clear to allow their teams to play on a particular week. A statewide spike in cases in early November eliminated eleven football teams during the opening round of the playoffs. Senator William Ihlenfeld (D-Ohio) believes that local administrators must be afforded more opportunities to set policies.
“The extracurricular issue being pushed to March 1st I just don’t understand. I think there needs to be more local control. Local health officials and local school administrators need to have more of a role in that,” Ihlenfeld said.
“I don’t understand how on January 19th, we are going to put 1,500 kids in the hallways at Wheeling Park High School, and when the bell rings at 2:30 they are all going to get on the busses and get in their cars and go home. Yet we can’t let ten kids go down to the gym and run up and down the floor and practice basketball with a coach standing there with a mask on. That just doesn’t make sense to me. That is not consistent.”
Ihlenfeld was critical of the Governor when his Greenbrier Resort hosted a New Year’s Eve gala last week. The video, posted on Ihlenfeld’s Twitter account Friday evening, has reached over 180-thousand views. It showed a crowded ballroom of revelers with mask compliance not at a hundred percent.
Partygoers rang in the new year last night at Governor Justice’s resort, with COVID protocols apparently optional. Meanwhile, the Governor won’t let high school sports begin until March 1. Kids continue to sacrifice while adults celebrate. pic.twitter.com/YhypNKGGk0
— William Ihlenfeld II (@IhlenfeldWV) January 2, 2021
SSAC Executive Director Bernie Dolan said last week that the normal overlap period between winter and spring sports may be extended from around three weeks to five weeks. This could lead to smaller schools having trouble filling rosters as student-athletes have to choose which sports to compete in with many going on simultaenously.
“Let’s start having conversations. If the SSAC has some control and we could sit down with a committee of coaches and the Governor and have everybody put their minds together, we could probably come up with a pretty good plan,” Tallman said.
“How are the Class A schools going to do it? It makes no sense. I just don’t think anything is thought about. The SSAC is not involved with this decision-making process. They are having to be reactionary. They are on our side and we are on their side.”
Justice says that several members of his coronavirus response team are involved in the decision-making process in regards to high school athletics.
“That is not the Governor deciding. The Governor has to put his seal on it but at the same time, where do these ideas come from? These ideas come from all across the sector. These ideas came from the Department of Education and our health experts,” Justice said.
“If you think, Justice doesn’t want that kids to play basketball, Justice is a basketball coach. Give me a bloomin’ break. I want my kids to be able to play basketball more than you will ever imagine.”
“The teachers, the coaches, the parents, the athletes, the SSAC, the teachers unions, I think everybody is pulling the rope the same way,” Tallman said. “But there is one guy making all the decisions right now. That isn’t the way it is supposed to be.”