Technical Tidbits 3/18: No More (College) Sports This Spring

While this isn’t the popular decision, it is the right one. With all of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, it is smart for the ACC to cancel all remaining spring athletic events. The championships for the sports had already been cancelled by the NCAA, so it would have been strange playing a regular season for nothing. Hopefully, all of the athletes affected by the cancellation will be granted a waiver for an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. It’s the right thing to do. The cancellation also affects the Georgia Tech Football team, with no spring game or any more spring practice.

One group with serious national title hopes affected by the NCAA and ACC cancellations is the Tech Men’s Golf team. They were led by Andy Ogletree, the U.S. Amateur champion, and as of the latest rankings were no. 3 in the nation. This article details the sadness that came from the end of the season, and the decision that players in all sports will face when considering taking an extra year of eligibility. Some have serious hopes of turning professional (like Ogletree), and will not be taking an extra year of eligibility. It’ll be interesting to see who does and who doesn’t.

Even though in-person and on-campus recruiting visits are currently on hold, Josh Pastner is still taking advantage of recruiting by phone. After losing three players, (Evan Cole, Asanti Price, and Kristian Sjolund) to the transfer portal, Pastner has reached out to Kevin Marfo, a 6’8” post player from Quinnipiac. According to this article, Marfo led all of Division 1 in rebounding with 13.3 a game this past season. This would be a huge get for Pastner & co., but I wouldn’t expect much more news on this front until visit restrictions are lifted.

Even though this has no relation to Georgia Tech, it’s about the COVID-19 pandemic and sports. The NBA is looking smarter and smarter for suspending their season, as a total of seven players have been infected with the Coronavirus. The Los Angeles Lakers will be going into self-quarantine, with all players being tested. Hopefully, they haven’t interacted with many people in the last few days.

Although Geoff Collins can’t make a COVID-19 video like Ed Orgeron, this was a nice message in a time of uncertainty. Keep on washing those hands!

Question of the Day: How many times have you washed your hands in the past week?