Louisville Men’s Basketball was forced to pause all team activity last Thursday night when someone in the program tested positive for Covid-19. It unfortunately canceled two games for the Cards, one a big time matchup with Wisconsin in Madison as part of the ACC-Big 10 Challenge. It was unknown when the team could return to normal operations such as practice and games.
🔙 to 🏀https://t.co/kH8Yw0EEUS
— Louisville Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) December 10, 2020
Well, today Louisville announced that the men’s team is allowed to begin practicing again. However, it will be a slow process as the team won’t be able to just go back to regular full practices. Instead, the team will have either individual or small group instruction today and Friday and return to a full team practice Saturday. It was Louisville’s medical staff that made the call to allow the program to begin integrating back into normal operations.
The Cards are still looking at rescheduling the big matchup with Wisconsin that was supposed to have taken place last night. However, no date has been set for the playing of that game. The next scheduled game is the December 16th ACC opener at home against former Louisville assistant Kevin Keatts and NC State. However, NC State recently was forced to pause due to Covid issues in their program. For now, the game remains on schedule to be played.
UofL is currently ranked in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls at 25th and 24th respectively. I’m sure the players and coaches are as ready to get back on the court against real competition as the fans are. We will get an update from Coach Mack on the team tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
Below you can read UofL’s full press release on the return to organized team activities:
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT:
Louisville Men’s Basketball Team Returns to the Court, Mack Available Friday at 1:30 p.m.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville’s medical team has advised that the Cardinals’ men’s basketball team may begin the integration back to action on Thursday, a week after pausing all team activities due to COVID-19 issues. The team will participate in two days of individual or small group sessions on Thursday and Friday, with the first organized full team practice scheduled for Saturday.
UofL and Wisconsin will continue to look for a future date to possibly play their game originally scheduled for Dec. 9, but there is currently no plan in place for the postponed contest. The Cardinals’ next scheduled game is Dec. 16 against NC State in the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville, ranked 24th by USA Today and No. 25 by the Associated Press, has won its first four games of the season.
Chris Mack Virtual News Conference Friday at 1:30 p.m.
University of Louisville men’s basketball head coach Chris Mack will be available to provide an update on the Cardinals at a virtual news conference on Friday, Dec. 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Louisville (4-0), ranked 24th by USA Today and No. 25 by AP, paused team activities on Dec. 3 due to COVID-19 issues, forcing a cancellation of its Dec. 4 game against UNC Greensboro and postponing its Dec. 9 game at Wisconsin.
