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Misericordia’s men’s basketball team has decided to opt out of the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the school’s women’s team plays this winter.
The announcement that the Cougars’ men’s team won’t play this season came as the Middle Atlantic Conference released its schedule for the upcoming season Tuesday.
“Obviously we were excited when the MAC presidents made the announcement,” Misericordia athletics director Chuck Edkins said of the MAC deciding to hold a season. “But our focus is on the student-athletes and their safety and well-being. We met with each coach and team through zoom and talked about where the MAC presidents were, where we were and what they thought.
“(Men’s basketball coach) Will Chandler came to me and said that the team had concerns about playing.”
After Chandler expressed the concerns, of his team, Misericordia’s athletic department revisited the subject and came to the conclusion that opting out of the MAC season was the best option.
“(Chandler) handled the situation methodically and perfectly,” Edkins said. “He met with senior leadership and with the team to discuss comfort levels and ultimately they decided that they felt it wasn’t worth the risk.”
Misericordia’s men’s team will not be the only one not competing in the MAC this season. Both the King’s men and women are also off the league schedule, as the school announced it would not play any winter sports this season because of COVID-19 concerns.
Both Wilkes men’s and women’s basketball teams are set to play this season.
While Misericordia has opted out of the men’s season, it still can schedule games with schools as long as they continue follow COVID-19 protocols.
“The men’s team will still practice and do strength and conditioning,” Edkins said. “We can still play an outside school as we keep following protocols.”
Wilkes, the Misericordia women and the rest of the MAC will play a five-week, eight-game schedule.
Games will begin on Feb. 11 and will continue through March 12. Each team will play two games each week on Thursday and Friday.
March 15 through March 21 will be championship week with the format being determined as the season progresses.
The MAC schedules can be found here.