Villanova’s Wright says backup plans are essential

Coach rates chances of full season at ‘50-50’

PHILADELPHIA — An avid sports fan, Villanova coach Jay Wright watched with interest how Major League Baseball muddled through its season to get to the World Series and college football and the NFL have been challenged to piecemeal schedules to complete a season.

That made the two-time national champion wary that college basketball teams can play a complete 25-game season without cancellations or severe disruptions.

Wright says it’s “50-50” the sport — which took one of the first major hits in the coronvirus pandemic era with the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament — can make it through the season intact.

“You have to try to anticipate what it’s going to be,” Wright said Wednesday. “But you have to realize, you could be wrong.”

The Wildcats already felt the impact of COVID-19 when they had to put workouts on hold for 14 days last month when members of the program tested positive for the virus. Citing confidentiality, Wright has not disclosed the names of the people who had it, but the winningest coach in Villanova history said he was not among them. Wright said he’s tested once a week — including Wednesday — and the worry of keeping his players and staff safe can leave him more restless than prepping for the Big East Tournament.

“It does affect you because you get different guys involved, obviously not everybody is involved,” Wright said. “Initially the whole team is shut down. We all have to be prepared for that during the season. I think we’re back on track. I feel like we handled that pretty well. We have not had any issues since.”

Wright said the Wildcats are close to having a finalized schedule that could include a full Big East schedule, a marquee matchup against 2019 national champion Virginia at Madison Square Garden and a local slate of games against Big 5 teams. He said the Wildcats could potentially allow maybe 700 fans per game if allowed this season at the Pavilion.

He said the Big East is still considering some sort late December start and a form of a postseason bubble.