PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Their last two games postponed, Pitt men’s basketball is scheduled to play Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 on the Fan. Panthers with a third ACC game this year, at Syracuse.
“You’re trying to focus just on one game ahead because you just don’t know,” said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel on Monday. “We find out yesterday that it going to definitely happen. I started hearing about it on Saturday. The only thing I’m concerned about, my fingers are crossed that it happens.”
“What we looked at from our end and I think Syracuse did too. Would you have enough bodies to play? Everything is pending on test results as we forward.”
Pitt knows they will definitely be without three players-Justin Champagnie due to injury and two other players because of COVID-19 protocols. Capel said there is a possibility of a fourth player not traveling, which would leave the Panthers with nine scholarship players available at the 6-1 Orange.
Capel said the team was heading to the airport when they found out they weren’t going to play at Duke December 28.
“One of the most brutal things is we were on the bus and we hadn’t even gotten on the highway yet, fortunately,” Capel said. “I yell up to the bus driver, ‘hey, we need to go back’. We go in and we meet and we tell them the game is cancelled.”
“That was tough. They were really disappointed because we were ready. We had a couple of good practices and obviously the excitement of playing an ACC game. And for us coming after a loss.”
Unlike issues with Duquesne basketball, Pitt has not had to go on pause. The healthy players were at least able to go through individual work and keep stretched and ready for the next game.
“It’s really difficult,” Capel said. “We try to focus on the stuff we can control. I really don’t know what we can control. Every day I’m trying to figure out who is going to be in practice. You are waiting with baited breath on test results to see who you have for that day. If a kid has a sore throat or a headache or is congested, there is probably a good chance he can’t practice.”
Capel fears it is only going to get worse in the short term.
“You have to be able to adapt and adjust because from here on out it’s going to be like this,” Capel said. “As you start having students come back. I know other student-athletes from other sports went home for Christmas. So as you start having people get back to campus. I think you will see some more disruptions going forward.”
“It’s tough, just trying to navigate. I’m not an expert on anything. I’m just a basketball coach. I’m trying to figure this thing out as we go. Some of the guys who know a lot maybe can help me or tell me how we should be doing this.”