Coming into the season, little was expected of the Tulane basketball program. Not only has the program been historically bad, but they have to face some heavyweights in the AAC conference. Their season just got a heck of a lot tougher. On Saturday, the university released a statement saying that all men’s basketball activities are put on hold until further notice.
Two Games Canceled for Tulane Basketball
By suspending all Tulane basketball activities, it puts more than games on hold for the Green Wave. They also will not be able to practice. Tulane’s games this week against Texas A&M and Grambling State have both been canceled. Not only does that hurt for the Tulane players, but it could also possibly put the players at injury risk when they return.
Quite frankly, Tulane was virtually already out of the NCAA tournament. At 3-6 through their first nine games, you could argue that they’d already need to win the AAC tournament for an NCAA Tournament bid. For the players though, few understand just how important all the practices and team meetings are for a team.
First, it stops a team from being able to build any chemistry. Second, without constant and meticulous work on the body, the probability of injury skyrockets. While the team will obviously be able to do individual workouts, the difference between those and actual practices is stark. Without even being able to even meet with trainers and condition their bodies correctly, it’ll be interesting to see if Tulane starts getting hit with the injury bug.
Unknown Future for Tulane
In their statement, Tulane University did not release how many members of the team tested positive. With the outbreak being bad enough to cancel future games a few days out, there’s no doubt it’s widespread. Not only does Tulane miss two games, but they may miss even more. Just three days after Tulane was set to play Grambling State, they play New Orleans at home. After that, they have over a week off before they open conference play, with Memphis at home.
With so much time between the two games to end the 2021 calendar year, it wouldn’t be surprising if the New Orleans game was canceled too. Also, that timeframe is assuming that other members of the team or staff don’t catch the virus from fellow teammates or coaches. In that instance, their possible return date could be pushed back even further.
