Seton Hall pauses program activities due to positive COVID test

Kevin Willard and Seton Hall have paused basketball activities due to positive COVID-19 test. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

When addressing the prospect of navigating interruptions to the basketball season due to COVID-19, Kevin Willard admitted that while his Seton Hall program was being as cautious as possible, it could still not hide from the virus.

Wednesday evening, the Pirates announced a pause of all basketball-related activities after a positive test result for someone directly involved with the program. The New York Post’s Zach Braziller further reported there were two positive cases within the program, one of which is a player, and that the pause took effect Monday.

“The Seton Hall men’s basketball team has paused all team activities due to positive COVID-19 test results among the program’s Tier 1 personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, staff and managers,” a release issued by the university said.

“Our priority throughout this pandemic has been the health and safety of our community. We are currently following all state, local and university guidelines in response to these positive cases.”

Seton Hall is now the fourth Big East program to pause due to a positive test, joining Marquette, Connecticut and Villanova. The Pirates are also the third New Jersey basketball team to be forced into a COVID-induced hiatus, as both Monmouth and Rider also had to shut down within the past two weeks.

“Our number one concern is that we keep everyone safe and healthy,” Willard said in the aforementioned release. “Since we returned to campus in July, we have been diligent in following protocols and rigorously tested with no positives until this point. But as we’ve seen throughout the country and here locally, COVID-19 cases are on the rise, and unfortunately, it has reached our program. We will continue to monitor the situation, and we look forward to resuming our preparation for the season when it is safe to do so.”

Seton Hall was slated to open its 2020-21 season against Winthrop on November 25 in a multi-team event hosted by the University of Louisville, but that game is now in jeopardy. The Pirates were also scheduled to face Louisville on November 27 in the same tournament, but that game may also be scrapped if the Pirates have to pull out of the event.

During the Big East’s media day video conference on October 28, Willard was openly concerned with all programs being able to use backlogs of tests moving forward to mitigate the recommended 14-day shutdown periods.

“I don’t understand why we’re testing so much if we’re not going to be able to use the test to get out of the 14-day quarantine,” he said. “I hope as we move forward and testing becomes more available and quicker, we can use the backlog of tests to keep moving forward without such a huge disruption. Right now, it’s 17 days until you can play another game.”

“Hopefully as testing and policies get a little bit better, we can use the tests to make the disruption not 14 days, but maybe seven days. I think that would help the season dramatically.”