Just as COVID-19 is starting to wreak havoc in the sports world once again, Arizonaβs next guest at McKale Center can provide a reminder of how bad things really were a year ago.
Cal Baptist flew to Tucson on Dec. 15, 2020, stayed overnight, submitted to Pac-12-required COVID-19 testing at the UA in the morning, and sat down for a pregame meal early that afternoon.
Then somebody told them one of their tests came back positive. The official release saying the game would be called off came out at 2:32 p.m., less than three hours before tipoff.
Game over. Well, game vacated. Erased. Or something.
βIt was wild,β Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy said Friday morning, as the Lancers prepared for another flight to Tucson, with hopes this time to actually play a game.
The Lancers were one of nine Arizona opponents who were forced to back out of games because of COVID-19 issues last season. The Wildcats also had to reschedule a Dec. 2 home game with Washington when the Huskies ran into COVID issues earlier this month.
But the Lancers have been the only UA opponent who actually traveled to Tucson before discovering they could not play. It wasnβt Arizona, the Pac-12 or even Pima County that prevented the Lancers from playing, either.
Asked if he might have been able to play last season at UA with a reduced roster somehow, Croy said the Lancers had to comply with health regulations back home in Riverside, California.
βAt the time, everything was just very touch and go,β Croy said. βCoronavirus at the time was amplified.
βObviously, it had something to do with the contact tracing and the fact that we had a positive within our travel party. Weβd all just traveled together and were considered close contacts.β
But the way Croy described it, complaints were few. This was mid-December 2020, after all, when the coronavirusβ original variant was at a peak.
College basketball teams were just happy to be playing when they could. Even if they had to test multiple times a week. Even if fans werenβt allowed in the sands.
That was the difference between last season and this one.
βYou know, if you think back, it was one of those times where you just did your absolute best to adhere to the all protocols with a great attitude,β Croy said. βIt wasnβt a situation where there was going to be much pushback. It was like, βOK, this is what theyβre telling us to do and this is what we have to adhere to.ββ
So Croy got his guys on a bus, and then a plane. Except for the individual who tested positive.
That person was driven home in the back of a rented van so as not to further throw anybody else into contact tracing protocols. The driver was socially distanced as much as possible.
βWe got a large vehicle, the person in front wore a mask, and that was that,β Croy said. βThat was all part of the story.β
The other part of the story was that it didnβt end when the Lancers arrived back in Southern California. The Lancers paused for three weeks, returning to practice just two days before resuming their season with a trip to play a pair of games at Utah Valley.
Cal Baptist guard Chance Hunter pulls down a rebound during the first half of the Lancers' game against Texas last month in Austin.
Without Croy, that is. Because by then, even he tested positive.
βIt wasnβt anything too extreme, but you definitely knew you had COVID,β Croy said of his symptoms.
Not surprisingly, then, the Lancers lost both games to Utah Valley β one by 27 and the other by four points. CBU then ripped off five straight wins but never really hit its stride, finishing 6-6 in the WAC and losing to Seattle in the first round of the conference tournament.
Croy credited his players for forging through what they could.
βThey pulled together and we ended up playing some good basketball in conference, but it was a tough stretch,β he said. βWe knew we werenβt the only ones going through it. But when youβre in it, itβs tough.β
Things are much different this season. The Lancers are 8-2, with significant additions in freshman point guard Taran Armstrong and big man Daniel Akin plus traditionally what is the best 3-point shooting in the WAC.
They might even be able to challenge for the conference title this time ... except they wonβt be able to go any further. In their last season of a four-year transition to Division I, the Lancers are able to compete in the WAC Tournament β but canβt play in their first NCAA Tournament until 2022-23.
βNobody really knows why they make you work through that process so long, but weβve endured it, and weβve been able to find a lot of great moments within the journey,β Croy said. βWeβre just excited to be through it.β
Besides, so far at least, the Lancers are getting to play a full regular season this time.
