Utah Basketball Team Plans To Have Full Team Available For Opener Despite COVID Outbreak

The Utah basketball team has some explaining to do. After having nine total players test positive for the COVID-19 virus, the program decided not to shut down, and continue with their plans to start the season. The NCAA recommends, but does not mandate, that teams enter a 14-day shutdown if a player or coach test positive for the virus. Therefore, when the Utah team dealt with the virus earlier this month, they were allowed to handle it internally.

Utah claims that after undergoing contact tracing, the infected players did not trace back to a practice setting. Here was coach Larry Krystkowiak’s explanation.

“A decision could be made to allow those that weren’t in those homes to continue doing their job,” said Krystkowiak via The Salt Lake Tribune. “We had guys living independently at home and in the dorms, so I think that’s probably what separated us, our ability to prove that it’s pretty obvious in our minds that our infections either took place in those cars heading back to the houses or while they were at the houses. Through some of that data, I think it was evident that that was the case.”

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Krystkowiak himself contracted the virus last month, but was deemed well enough to exit a 10-day quarantine on Friday in order to coach his team.

We’ll see if the NCAA needs to step in at any point during the season. I understand that this situation occurred before Utah could expose another team, but it still seems like we’re putting a little too much trust in each individual program to do the right thing.

Utah opens its season on Thursday against Washington.

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