Guru Musings: MAAC and NCAA Shutdowns, Among Others, Make Sports World Surreal

Guru note: As this was being written the NCAA announced they were cancelling the men’s and women’s tournaments and all winter and spring NCAA championships, facing pressure after Duke and Kansas suspended all athletic activities.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.  – The Guru had stopped looking at the news on all sides about 11 a.m. Thursday, getting dressed to come over here to Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall for the continuation of the quarterfinal round of the women’s side of the dual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball championships prior to the men’s events scheduled later in the day.

The only thought looking ahead, while waiting for the rideshare to arrive for the brief trip from the hotel, was guessing what the ambience was here with limited fan allowance as third seed Fairfield was playing sixth seed Siena for the right to meet second seed Marist Friday morning as part of the semifinals.

Following that game, at 2:30, fifth-seed Quinnipiac, that had owned the conference in several previous seasons, was to play fourth-seed Manhattan for the right to meet top-seed Rider in the other game.

As the car zipped out to Pacific Avenue, the driver, knowing the destination, commented, “They cancelled all the Power 5’s” and began reading the list.

Looking for some updated notification, there was nothing yet from the MAAC, one of the few mid-major conferences still in play.

Upon arrival, the two teams that started the day’s activity were nearing the conclusion to what became a Fairfield 72-56 triumph.

Lou Lopez-Senechal had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Stags (16-14) while Amari Anthony had 17 for the Saints (11-20) as the leading scorers.

The scene was no different than what an early round of the American Athletic Conference women’s tourney would appear on a day the University of Connecticut had a bye.

But while preceding to the media room, the buzz was under way that the MAAC was joining everyone else with commissioner Rich Ensor to speak at 2:30 p.m.

However, it was still a bit early, so the postgame media event was held with the winning and losing teams arriving for their perspectives.

”It’s funny, a month ago we told the team they should be reading the news more,” quipped Siena coach Ali Jaques about the events coming in rapid succession.

At that moment, the whole scene felt like the movie “On the Beach,” where almost the entire world had been incinerated in atomic warfare but life continued in extended normalcy down in Australia before the fallout would begin to have its effect on the population.

And a million thoughts over the end of it all, with the NCAA likely not to happen – a board of governors call was slated at 3 p.m. as your Guru was writing this.

(Updated, as noted at the top, they cancelled).

This is normally the time of the year when the Guru, in one of his roles as the women’s rep on the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) board, begins working with the NCAA and the writers organization for the annual awards ceremony and postseason honors voting he oversees.

On Wednesday, Malcolm Moran, who heads USBWA, had texted that answers had yet to come from the NCAA on the media situation in the wake of announcing the tournaments would be held without fans, but he would keep us in the loop.

He had expressed a feeling of things ominous going on prior to the NBA shutdown announcement.

Then, beyond that, hearing how some of the conferences would handle their representatives to the NCAAs, which may not happen, meant that Drexel in the Colonial Athletic Association and Rider here in the MAAC as number one regular season seeds would be advanced to the women’s  field.

But now fearing the worst, it would be akin to 1980 to those who made the U.S. Olympic team but did not go because of the boycott.

And there were other things rushing into the thought process – like who would believe that this is how longtime Villanova women’s coach Harry Perretta’s 42-year career would end without the encore likely to come as a selection to the WNIT, potentially with games at Finneran Pavilion.

Speaking of Villanova, the question becomes on the Drexel finish, did Wildcats alum Denise Dillon coach her last game with the Dragons, being many consider her the top candidate to replace Perretta and are cheering for that to happen.

“Think of it,” said one veteran coach here. “Taking her is no different than when they hired Jay Wright and what he had done at Hofstra in the same conference on the men’s side.”

And then there was the tragedy of imminent statistical achievement not to occur in many places in many sports. 

A Marist player on the verge of getting her 2,000^th point deprived had her in tears, according to someone who had been out on the court.

Later, after the NCAA made their cancellation official, longtime Rider coach Lynn Milligan, texted the Guru her reaction: “We are obviously devastated that the MAAC Tournament has been cancelled.

 “This team has had an amazing season and was prepared for this week and are extremely disappointed.

“Our seniors have been outstanding, and my heart is breaking for them as well as the many other players and seniors who have had an abrupt end to the season and careers.

 “However, we realize and support that this was a very difficult decision for the MAAC and Commissioner Ensor and we also understand the bigger picture of what is going on around the world.” 

With the routine business concluded after the team representatives departed the interview area, Ensor took the podium, reading the official statement.

“In response to the immediate and ever-growing concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and its Council of Presidents have unanimously decided to cancel the remainder of its current conference tournament currently being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

 

“In addition, based upon the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference membership’s ongoing commitment to the health and safety of our student athletes and athletic department representatives and as a result of the growing national concern of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Council of Presidents has also unanimously voted to cancel all spring sports competitions, practices (including captain’s practices), effective tomorrow, March 13^th and other athletic related activities for the remainder of the 2020 Spring semester.

 

“The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Council of Presidents regrettably decided to make these challenging decisions to prioritize the health and safety of our student-athletes and out of concern for the broader health and well-being of our various school communities.”

 

And then the question and answer period began, though Ensor prior to reading the statement said he had just been to the locker rooms of Quinnipiac and Manhattan to give them the word that everything was over.

 

Someone here in the workroom, by the way, just said the Fairfield/Siena game had likely been the next to last American sporting event that was under way. 

 

The MEAC tourney was also occurring at the same time so it was unknown who finished first. 

 

(And right now, at 5:15 your Guru – what did you expect – is the last one in the area putting the updates and finishing touches on this.)

 

Some spring sports may still have been played on Thursday and Ensor said those under way would be allowed to be completed but with schools clearing campuses, they likely were over.

 

Ensor said there had been two conference calls with the MAAC’s council of presidents and the athletic administrations about “protecting our student athletes but also providing them the opportunity to really shine this time of year.”

 

“It’s a blow to cancel it.”

 

This is the first year the MAAC dual tourneys are being held in Atlantic City after a long stay at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.

 

“This is a growing crisis, and it comes at a prime time of the year when we all focus on March Madness,” Ensor said.

 

He thanked the locals here and said, “We’re really looking forward to coming back next year. It’s been a great experience. I think our fans are going to love this place and all the amenities and the way they have treated us.”

 

The vote by the presidents was unanimous.

 

“We’ve been in nonstop meetings all morning, so my brain is a little frazzled,’ he quipped over trying to name the Rider women and Siena men as the number one seeds who would have represented had there still been an NCAA tournament.

 

The other conferences that had already cancelled didn’t have a direct effect, “but it was a consideration,” Ensor said.

 

“I think we were waiting for feedback from the NCAA and what they were doing, we had been taking our cues from them on taking our direction.

 

“There had been a call in the afternoon with the conference commissioners association and an NCAA representative, and the chief medical officer, and other NCAA officials.

 

“There’s a rightful concern, we don’t know the scope of this pandemic that’s under way. We certainly want to protect our student athletes, but we wanted to maintain as long as we could, but events just overtook us,” Ensor said.

 

In terms of still playing while most of the other conferences had already cancelled, Ensor said, “It was a timing thing. It’s a little different in the mid-major world than the (Power 5) group. 

 

“This is no knock on my friend (commissioner) Val Ackerman, but the Big East, they’re going to get six or seven teams in the (men’s tournament) field, if they have a tournament, but we have one (automatic qualifier) so we were trying to resist as long as possible.

 

“Coming into the week, I really thought we probably had ten days before we got to this point, but we didn’t have the luxury as it turned out,” he continued.

 

He said prior to the tournament, there were some internal office discussions but no real conversation.

 

He had spoken during Thursday with the commissioner of the Patriot League because it’s a conference with many similarities to the MAAC. They met earlier than the MAAC presidents, so it was a matter of getting the process through.

 

In talking about two phone calls with the membership presidents, Ensor quipped, “Getting the presidents on two calls within a four-hour period, that’s a major accomplishment in of itself.”

 

Then a question was asked, what would your message be to the seniors who may never play an NCAA game again.

 

Ensor, choking up, said, “Personally, I regret having to do this and I share their pain.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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