Champaign – It wasn’t full of games, but it will give the team a break over practice time.
However, like other programs across the country, COVID-19 hit basketball in Illinois hard, and 10 members of the program were infected with the virus. This included many players, forcing Illini to cancel the match against Florida A & M in Champaign on December 29, and the Big Ten Contest with Minnesota was postponed for two days.
Blood Underwood will be able to bring the team back to the floor against the Minneapolis gophers on Tuesday to begin most of Illinois’s Big Ten season. This will be their first game since the victory of “Braggin’Rights” in Missouri in St. Louis, and after a few very interesting weeks when the program was paused a bit at COVID-19.
Players were allowed to go home for the Christmas holidays, significantly limiting practice time before the contest with Minnesota, and the outbreak was discovered after they returned. That’s why monitoring player conditioning and play time is a top priority for Underwood heading to the match on Tuesday.
“Obviously, conditioning will be important. We don’t want to put student athletes at risk in the long run by playing at the highest level. They are all high level athletes and practice. We are in a situation where we could be injured because we didn’t have time, “says Underwood. “We spent a few days, and that’s what we have.”
Prior to the outbreak, Illinois successfully started its December Big Ten schedule, defeating Rutgers at home and winning a road victory over Iowa. Due to their rescheduling, Illini will return to her home floor against Maryland on Thursday and will be held at the State Farm Center on a night in honor of former US security guard Ayo Dosunmu.
After the COVID outbreak, Illinois returns to work at Big Ten
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