Hallie Mayes
Lantern Staff
As life has thrown all sorts of curve-balls this year, it is important to make lemons into lemonade. The Butler men’s basketball team has adapted to the regulations and strives to better the program during these hard times.
Starting last spring, players and staff knew this year would be unlike anything Butler has ever seen. Upon returning after the mandatory stay at home order, Coach Kyle Fisher expressed the newfound challenges the team faced. Coming from such a long break without access to team workouts or gyms took a toll on players. As they returned, players were required to wear masks during workouts as well as socially distance. This process of integrating the team together has gone through phases. Starting with workouts in groups of five, a few weeks’ later workouts became groups of eight players. Once full team workouts began, social distancing and masks were required of players and staff. On top of these precessions, basketballs are cleaned after each workout session, to provide the safest environment. In addition, each player has a station for individual water bottles and towels, socially distanced from one another.
The basketball season usually starts in October. This year, the beginning of practices started in September, and games will begin on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. Because of these changes, there will be eight less games in the 2020-21 season. With only one returning player, Shawn Hopkins has stepped up to keep the team motivated during practices.
When asked how Hopkins, a sophomore sports management major, has created a strong atmosphere for the team, he responded, “Being the first at practice and [the] last one to leave. Making sure I’m where I need to be, so I can hold my teammates accountable because I can’t be a good leader if I’m not holding myself accountable.”
If a player were to test positive for the COVID-19 virus, athletes are under the same restrictions as directed under the heath department. Outbreaks of this manner in the conference have had to shut down the basketball program for a time to quarantine. By Wednesday, Sept. 30, at least one basketball player had tested positive for the virus, and the team is now quarantined.
“My team and I dictate the atmosphere and have been doing a great job thus far,” freshman business major Samuel Ward said. “We bring the energy we need, and we set a great tempo every day.”
Because of socially distancing regulations, team bonding has not been able to proceed per usual. Program supporters, in a regular season build relationship with players and staff, but without face-to-face contact, this team full of freshmen has not been able to bond beyond the court.
“I am really proud of the maturity this group of guys has shown, even though I know they are frustrated and want to do more than we can they haven’t shown it […] they come in everyday with a good attitude,” Fisher said.