Moos: NU Remains 'Cautious' Amid Pandemic

Athletic directors from Big Ten Conference schools had scheduled a meeting early last week, prior to the beginning of the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis, to discuss the hot topic of NIL (name, image, and likeness) for student-athletes.
 
When the leaders convened, however, they turned their attention to a more pressing matter – rapidly growing concerns about COVID-19, or the coronavirus disease, and its effects, initially on the pending basketball tournament. No sooner in making one decision did news break, causing more debate and decision making on what would eventually become labeled an official pandemic.
 
"As we were talking," Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos said, "more and more things started to appear on the radar."
 
The Big Ten went from planning on playing its full tournament, in front of fans, to planning on playing the final four days with very limited spectators, to cancelling the tournament altogether. Eventually, the NCAA Tournament became victim to the pandemic, and later, the entire spring sports calendar. Conference by conference, the Big Ten included, administrators decided to suspend practices and activities for spring sports until further notice.
 
"We're experiencing, of course, something that's new and frightening," Moos said, "but we're being as cautious as we possibly can, and of course keeping the safety and well-being and health of our student-athletes and staff upper-most in our minds."
 
Moos discussed the latest decisions related to COVID-19 concerns – including the cancellation of the April 18 Red-White Spring Game – and decisions yet to come on his radio show Monday evening on the Husker Sports Network.
 
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has cancelled classes for the week, and after next week's Spring Break, will have the rest of the spring semester classes taught on-line only, beginning March 30. Moos said he didn't mandate, but encouraged student-athletes to remain in Lincoln.
 
"We really felt, within athletics, in talking to coaches and staff, that the best place for our student-athletes to be would be here in Lincoln, where we've got the medical professionals in the building," Moos said. "We've got proper nutrition. We've got all the services we need, academics and even psychological and all those things right here."
 
With no classes at all for two weeks, roughly half of Nebraska's student-athletes are currently on campus, Moos estimated, although more could return at the end of the month. For those here, the training table remains open, but beginning Tuesday, on a take-out basis only. Monday, seats were removed from the table in an effort to have social distancing, before the decision to later in the day to take away all seating.
 
Student-athletes can continue working out individually, but there is no coaching or film watching or team practices for spring sports until further notice. That includes spring football, which still has 13 of its 15 allotted practices remaining. The Spring Game would have counted as one of those practices.
 
"In a perfect world, if we can get our arms around the virus and people can start to feel comfortable in our environment and where we're at," Moos said, "maybe we can get those 13 practices back in June or so, during summer school."
 
The topic will likely be addressed on a Tuesday conference call of Big Ten athletic directors that will first address the question of eligibility status of seniors who had their final season of competition cut short with the cancellation of spring sports.
 
While Moos is in favor of expanding rosters to give senior student-athletes a deserved final season, he also noted the cost involved of adding scholarship, even if for only one season. In addition, some sports, like track and field, baseball and softball, are equivalency sports that can divide a certain number of scholarships among players, while head count sports, like basketball, women's tennis and women's gymnastics, are restricted to a number of student-athletes on full scholarship.
 
"We have to really dig into this and get a feel for what the financial piece of it's going to be as well," Moos said. "Even winter sport student athletes who were having successful seasons, both team and individual, who weren't able to compete for national championships. Wrestling would be a good example of that.
 
"We want to make sure we're going the right things, both short term and long term."
 
Moos commended the leadership of Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, University of Nebraska Systems President Ted Carter and UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green during an increasingly developing situation, based on the latest news and advice from health professionals and federal, state and local government. The Nebraska athletic department is currently open and running but visitors are prohibited until further notice.
 
"It's an ongoing process," Moos said, "and it changes daily."

- Brian Rosenthal