Mahomet-Seymour players “disappointed and heartbroken”
By FRED KRONER
Mahomet-Seymour athletes still don’t know when the high school basketball season will start, but they learned one piece of information on Tuesday.
They know when the season won’t begin.
The previous Monday, Nov. 16 target date for preseason practices to get under way, as established by the Illinois High School Association, has been delayed indefinitely.
M-S and the other seven schools in the Apollo Conference made a joint decision not to move forward with practices next week due to the coronavirus pandemic and the escalating number of positive cases statewide. All conference members will abide by the decision, which coincides with guidelines established by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The official word was transmitted to M-S parents by an email from athletic director Matt Hensley.
“There has been a lot of conflicting information (from the IHSA, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the governor’s office) and based on all of that, it seems to be the safest decision based on the facts we have,” Hensley said, “not to play basketball based on what the IHSA has laid out.”
In late October, basketball was reclassified as a “high-risk” sport by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, which precluded schools and teams from having any contact.
Tuesday’s announcement does not cancel the season, but puts basketball on a temporary hold.
Hensley said liability was one concern as thought was given by the Apollo Conference members to starting into basketball practice on Monday (Nov. 16).
“There were conversations with school attorneys and school insurance (carriers), a lot of back-and-forth about what that entailed,” Hensley said.
M-S boys’ basketball head coach Ryan Bosch had been holding out hope that the scenario would not play out as it is.
“I was hopeful at the start of the fall that we were moving toward the start of a season,” Bosch said. “This is not necessarily the way I foresaw this going.”
Categorizing basketball as a high-risk sport complicated the possibilities of the season starting on time.
“That move changed things,” Bosch said. “Maybe it’s inevitable we ended up here.”
Shortly thereafter, some school districts and organizations began opting out.
“The Chicago Public League was the first shoe to drop (saying it would not play a winter season),” Bosch said, “and then it seemed like dominoes began falling.
“I think even if we felt comfortable in playing, there might not have been anyone to play.”
That the possible opponents in the region M-S is assigned to play in would be limited was a valid concern.
“We started seeing last week schools and conferences making statements (about not playing) and we were trying to weigh our options,” said M-S principal Chad Benedict, the school’s former boys’ basketball coach.
“It’s hard, and a lot of factors go into it. Safety of the kids is first.”
The Peoria Diocese said it would not allow parochial schools in its charge to play this winter, which sidelined Bloomington Central Catholic, Champaign St. Thomas More and Danville Schlarman Academy, among others.
Other individual school districts, such as Bloomington, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, Hoopeston Area, Rantoul, Robinson, Salt Fork and Urbana have also declined to play basketball this winter.
Bosch had a virtual meeting with the M-S boys’ basketball prospects after school on Tuesday. The reaction he received, he said, was expected.
“With as much work as they have put in, they were obviously disappointed and heartbroken,” Bosch said.
Even when the recent back-and-forth was taking place in October – with Pritzker shifting basketball to a spring sport followed a day later by the IHSA saying it would still allow schools to play during the winter – Bosch had issued cautions to the Bulldogs.
“We were upfront and told them they had to prepare (for a possible season), but we weren’t across the finish line yet,” he said.
The winter sports of boys’ swimming, dance and competitive cheer will be allowed to start as scheduled this month, barring other developments. Basketball is the only winter sport in the “high-risk” category and the only winter sport currently being delayed.
The IHSA Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday (Nov. 11) to view surveys that schools were asked to complete, and to consider options, one of which is to offer a truncated basketball season that could start in January. If that avenue is pursued, it could create conflicts with football, which had previously been moved from August by the IHSA to a Feb. 15 start date.
Hensley is optimistic that there will be more clarity on the basketball situation following the IHSA Board of Directors meeting.
“Hopefully they will give schools a clear direction and keep our kids engaged even if we don’t know what the end game looks like,” Hensley said.
Bosch said he and the players will be willing to work around whatever obstacles might be presented.
“Considering everything we’ve been through, if the option is no basketball or figuring how to coordinate with another sport, we’d take that,” Bosch said.
Benedict said he would like to see the leaders of the various organizations work together to determine the next steps.
“I would hope for the sake of the kids everyone can get a seat at the table and say, what steps can we take to try and get the kids a season,” Benedict said. “There’s nobody (at M-S) that doesn’t want to see the kids play.”
From Benedict’s perspective, the issue has gone beyond how many games a particular school might win, or even play.
“The mental health side is as real as the physical side,” Benedict said.
Not all neighboring states are following Illinois’ lead on high school basketball.
Indiana started girls’ basketball practice on Oct. 19 and allowed games to begin on Nov. 2. Brownsburg (west of Indianapolis) played its third girls’ game on Tuesday (Nov. 10).
Boys’ basketball practice in Indiana began on Monday (Nov. 9). That state’s high schools can play their first games on Nov. 23.
The Bloomington (Ill.) Daily Pantagraph reported on Monday (Nov. 9) that the son of Bloomington High School principal Tim Moore (6-foot-1 senior guard Landon Moore) transferred to Brownsburg High School last week and will play basketball for the Bulldogs. He will live with his mother.
Brownsburg was ranked eighth in last year’s final Indiana high school state poll. The varsity team will play its first game this season on Thursday (Nov. 19).
Benedict would like to see if it’s possible for the model being used in Indiana to be picked up by Illinois in the-not-too-distant-future.
“If we set back and watch the first month-and-a-half, then hopefully people in Illinois can have conversations and figure it out,” Benedict said.
Bosch is not predicting a quick resolution.
“I don’t know when the Apollo will be at a place they’ll be comfortable playing unless told by the IHSA, the state and public health it’s safe to play,” he said.
