The 500-mile excursion from Alabama A&M’s campus to Ohio State couldn’t have been fun, and what happened when the men’s basketball team arrived only made it worse.
On Friday, a day before the non-conference matchup between the Buckeyes and Bulldogs was set to tip off in the Schottenstein Center, the teams got the news that somebody in Alabama A&M’s travel party had tested positive for coronavirus upon arrival. Thus, the Big Ten-SWAC game was called off.
David Egelhoff, Ohio State’s 15th-year director of basketball operations, told head coach Chris Holtmann of the news with about 10 minutes remaining in their practice that day.
“They were here. They were here on campus,” Holtmann said earlier this week. “Unfortunately, they had bussed here and got the call from our medical staff that the game wasn't going to be able to happen. Felt bad for them and hope that everything is good with the person that tested positive.”
By the time Ohio State put out a press release around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, the coaching staff was already at work trying to put together a short-notice game. It was the Buckeyes’ first foray into the midseason non-conference scheduling madness that has become a part of the sport this year due to coronavirus.
Ohio State attempted to get something turned around within the weekend. Toledo was an option, with head coach Tod Kowalczyk telling the Toledo Blade’s Kyle Rowland that they nearly lined up a game on Sunday but weren’t able to set something up that would have tipped off 48 hours or fewer later.
“I'd like to be able to provide another game for our guys,” Holtmann said. “We looked at a number of options. Because of the testing protocols, it's hard to get a game that quickly turned around because your opponent would have to have two days of clean tests. We'll see if we find another window.”
Holtmann and Egelhoff have taken the lead on midseason scheduling, and they have some assistance from fourth-year assistant coach Ryan Pedon.
“Ryan Pedon, given just who Ryan is, has a number of friends in college basketball,” Holtmann said. “He's the friendliest assistant coach in the country. Because of that, he's got a lot of contacts. Usually the three of us will put our heads together and kind of work the phones if we need an extra game.”
Because of the Alabama A&M game cancellation, they need one right now.
When will it happen? That’s unclear. Ohio State doesn’t have a window of more than three days in a row without games already on the schedule in the month of December, making there not an obvious solution. Still, Holtmann is optimistic that it’ll happen.
“I do anticipate us adding another game at some point,” Holtmann said. “I just don't know when and where right now.”
