GOPHERS 568871382
Gophers' P.J. Fleck knows team is in unchartered waters
Spring ball might turn into summer ball, but the coach just wants everyone safe.
By Megan Ryan Star Tribune
MARCH 17, 2020 — 3:38PM
AARON LAVINSKY •
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Gophers coach P.J. Fleck directed his team during its Outback Bowl victory over Auburn on Jan. 1.
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Once P.J. Fleck saw the NBA suspend its season, he anticipated a “snowball effect.”
“You knew everything was going to be canceled,” the Gophers coach said in a phone interview Tuesday.
The coronavirus pandemic shut down sports, including all NCAA competitions through the school year. And while interrupted spring practices certainly muddles the Gophers’ offseason plans, Fleck is more focused on the human element of this global crisis.
For him, that meant ensuring all of his players were safe and accounted for after spring break travels to places such as Mexico, Canada and Denmark. The majority of the players are back home now and could stay there through the end of the semester, since the University moved all classes to online instruction.
The few remaining on campus are either international players worried about their ability to return to the U.S. should they leave and others whose on-campus living situation is more comfortable than home. All staff are working from home, teleconferencing with each other daily to keep up with their weekly itineraries.
Players have a home workout plan in lieu of going to the gym. Coaches can balance film study and from-afar recruiting with rare family time. And the Gophers will just have to wait and see if they can resume any team activities, which the Big Ten has left as a possibility, or salvage some kind of spring ball, even if it becomes summer ball.
“This isn’t about you. This isn’t about me. This is about how we can take care of each other and work together as a team,” Fleck said.
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