Pandemic causes another Duke basketball schedule shuffle. Here’s what’s what.
Less than two weeks into the new season, Duke is postponing a second game due to an opponents’ COVID-19 issues. But the Blue Devils did reach an agreement Thursday to reschedule another game that had been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Elon, one of four teams scheduled to play in the Duke Classic multi-team event, is quarantining and isolating for 14 days due to a positive COVID-19 test in its program.
The Phoenix had been scheduled to play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday at noon as well as Howard in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night as part of the multi-team event, which Duke and Howard are co-hosting. Both of those games are postponed.
Duke and Elon have not ruled out rescheduling their game. Duke attempted to find a replacement team but has been unable to do. So, the Blue Devils are not planning to play Sunday.
Duke is scheduled to play Bellarmine on Friday night at Cameron in the first game of the Duke Classic.
The Knights, from Louisville, Kentucky, had to stop team activities last month due to a positive COVID-19 test, causing them to reschedule their first three scheduled games to later in December and January. But they have since passed protocols, resumed practice and are set to travel to Durham Thursday to play what will be the program’s Division I debut Friday night.
Bellarmine, formerly a Division II program, will also travel to Washington, D.C., to play Howard on Sunday.
Duke, Gardner-Webb rescheduled
Meanwhile, Duke (1-1) and Gardner-Webb have rescheduled their game for Dec. 19 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will start at 2 p.m. and be televised by ACC Network Extra online.
The Blue Devils and Bulldogs had been scheduled to open the season Nov. 25 before Gardner-Webb halted team activities.
The ragged nature of scheduling during the pandemic was expected, of course. Still, it does impact the players.
“We look forward to playing every game,” Duke freshman forward Jaemyn Brakefield said Thursday during a video news conference with reporters. “Like the first game. Who doesn’t want to play their first game? But you just have to go at it every day and play hard, not knowing if you are going to play the next day or if you will have the rest of your season. It’s just hard to take in.”
So, Duke’s schedule now shows Friday night’s game with Bellarmine, Tuesday night’s game with No. 5 Illinois and a Dec. 12 game with Charleston Southern. All three of those games are at Cameron.
The Blue Devils scheduled to travel to Notre Dame to open the regular season on Dec. 16, followed by the rescheduled game with Gardner-Webb on Dec. 19.
Duke is off over the holidays before resuming ACC play at home with Pittsburgh on Dec. 29 to close out the 2020 portion of its schedule.
Elon loses games to Duke, UNC
Elon not only lost a game with Duke but also a game scheduled at North Carolina on Dec. 12. The school announced it paused team activities due to a positive test among its Tier 1 personnel, which includes players, coaches and team support staff.
The school tests Tier 1 personnel three times per week. The positive test resulted from a regularly scheduled test conducted Monday, the school said in a news release.
“As we have said since the onset of COVID, the safety of our student-athletes is paramount and we will follow the guidance of our medical staff in making these decisions,” Elon athletic director Dave Blank said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation and make arrangements that will return our team to practice and competition when it is safe to do so.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Pandemic causes another Duke basketball schedule shuffle. Here’s what’s what.."