After COVID-19 quarantine, here’s when Fresno State returns to practice, opens season

Fresno State men’s basketball will return to practice on Sunday or Monday, its 14-day quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests within its program just about at its end.

It will start a three-week sprint for coach Justin Hutson and the Bulldogs to make up for time lost that goes back to the summer when university administrators kept student-athletes off campus due to the pandemic, even while other Mountain West Conference programs were going through individual workouts in June and July.

Some players have had more COVID-19 tests than workouts or practices, but Hutson and the Bulldogs’ staff have tried to keep everything moving during the quarantine.

“Sometimes we’d have individual meetings on FaceTime or Zoom, sometimes we’d have small groups on,” said Hutson, entering his third season at Fresno State.

“There’s a lot of film watching of everything – a few of our practices, some of our opponents from last year, some of the things that we’re running offensively and defensively this year. We’ve been sitting around, but trying to keep busy the whole time and to get better.”

When team activities were suspended, Hutson and his staff were evaluating a roster they were able to make over in the offseason, starting to project roles and piece together playing rotations.

The Bulldogs have a number of new backcourt pieces with DePaul graduate transfer Devin Gage, Tulsa transfer Isaiah Hill, Texas-El Paso transfer Deon Stroud, JC transfer Kyle Harding, Cal Poly transfer Junior Ballard and 2020 recruit Destin Whitaker. Anthony Holland, Jordan Campbell and redshirt Alec Hickman are the only guards back from last season.

“We’re going to try to figure it out the best we can,” Hutson said. “A lot of it is going to be on the fly. But let’s not let this affect us more than it should. Let’s control what we can.”

Time, obviously, is not on their side having had only a fraction of the practices and workouts available to them. The Bulldogs also are waiting word on an NCAA transfer waiver for Stroud – Hill already has received one, making him eligible this season.

First 2 games of season set

A schedule has not yet been finalized, but the Bulldogs have been trying to reach the NCAA limit of 27 games this season including 18 within the Mountain West, and play more regional non-conference opponents. The first two will be Nov. 25 against NAIA William Jessup at the Save Mart Center and Nov. 27 against Pacific at the Spanos Center in Stockton.