Amid COVID resurgence, Blue Devils ‘more aware’ of interactions ahead of ACC opener
Being fully vaccinated meant Duke’s basketball team could put aside concerns that regular, frequent COVID-19 testing could alter its basketball schedule.
COVID-19’s delta and omicron variants changed that over the last week as positive cases around the country led to cancellations and postponements that were frequent last season but previously absent this season.
Because Duke assistant coach Nolan Smith entered the school’s health and safety protocols and began quarantining last Friday, Duke’s players and staff were all tested three times before they could take the court for Saturday’s 87-56 win over Elon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With Wednesday’s ACC opener with Virginia Tech looming, the No. 2 Blue Devils know they must be ever vigilant because current league rules dictate a team unavailable to play due to positive COVID-19 cases would forfeit.
“This has been a good wake up call, not only for us, but I think for our country, for everybody, that we need to still be safe and handle things the right way,” Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer said Tuesday. “Our guys want to play games. They’ll do whatever it takes in order for that to happen. And we’ll continue to stay diligent.”
Just prior to Scheyer’s Zoom news conference with reporters, the ACC announced Boston College was forfeiting its scheduled Wednesday night game with Wake Forest due to positive COVID-19 tests.
The hope, though, is that this aspect of the pandemic’s latest intrusion into the sports world will be removed soon.
ACC athletic directors have a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday and the league’s Medical Advisory Group, made up of medical officials from all 15 ACC schools, is discussing new guidelines.
The forfeit rule was put in place last August along with stipulations that teams that reached the 85% vaccination threshold wouldn’t be subjected to regular testing. Unvaccinated individuals would be tested at least once per week.
For teams below the 85% threshold unvaccinated individuals would be tested at least three times per week.
The idea was to encourage players and staff to get vaccinated.
But omicron has changed that as vaccinated individuals are testing positive for COVID-19.
That’s why Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, following the Elon game last Saturday, called for an end to forfeits while calling for teams to be tested before and after games, as was the case last season.
“I don’t like the forfeit thing,” he said, “and I don’t like the fact that the two teams are not tested the day before, the night before like we did last year.”
Krzyzewski, Scheyer and Duke’s other staff members wore masks during the game with Elon last Saturday. That was the first time this season they had done so.
That’s become the norm, once again, for players and staff ever since. The same goes for frequent hand washing.
“I think it’s made us all more aware of our interactions and just being as safe as possible while still living our life,” Scheyer said. “For our guys, masking up, right? Washing your hands. Those little things, we all want to get back to normal so badly. So you let some of those things slide.”
Wednesday’s game with Virginia Tech is Duke’s final game before a holiday break. The Blue Devils (10-1) next play on Dec. 29 at Clemson followed by another road game, on Jan. 1, at Notre Dame.
That means players will be traveling home over the next week to be with family for the holidays before they get back together after Christmas.
Krzyzewski said he and his staff have already received COVID-19 booster shots. He’s eager for the players to get theirs as well.
“I wish we would have it now,” Krzyzewski said Saturday.
Duke had a vaccine requirement in place for students to attend in-person classes during this school year and made COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment for faculty and staff.
Now the university has added a COVID-19 booster requirement as well, saying it must be administered by January or as soon as the individual is eligible under Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
On Tuesday, when asked about the players’ booster status, Scheyer said, “We’re working on it.”
Last week, Duke saw two teams it had planned to play on Saturday, Cleveland State and Loyola (Maryland), pause their seasons due to COVID-19, which made them unavailable to play.
Duke found Elon instead.
The Blue Devils don’t want to find themselves in that situation for any ACC games, which now comprise the remainder of their regular-season schedule.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Amid COVID resurgence, Blue Devils ‘more aware’ of interactions ahead of ACC opener."