#Local college basketball teams ready to get back on court

On Monday, Seton Hall players will enter the school’s gymnasium for the first time since March. On Tuesday, Rutgers will have its first individual workouts of the summer. By the end of the week, St. John’s could be joining them.

The three high-major college basketball programs in the area are slowly getting back to business after months away from one another due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. That’s not to say there will be full workouts or even scrimmages being played. This is merely a first step toward what many hope is a season that starts on time, with Monday the first day the NCAA allows summer college basketball activities with coaches that can last up to eight weeks.

Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said he will be having only individual workouts for now, with four players in the gym at a time. There will be no team managers and just his three assistant coaches. Rutgers’ Steve Pikiell will have one team workout Wednesday — Scarlet Knights players have been able to workout on their own at the RAC since June 22 — after getting the latest round of testing results, but otherwise it will be similar to Seton Hall with individual instruction and spread out workout groups.

Both coaches said these workouts are optional, and four Rutgers players have opted not to return, according to Pikiell. Willard said all of his players will be in the area, will be tested bi-weekly and only freshman guard Jahari Long of Texas will be in quarantine for two weeks. He declined to say if anyone who was recently tested received a positive result. St. John’s also doesn’t expect to announce any positive results, while Pikiell said his team has yet to record a positive test and is testing every Monday.

“I’m excited to get them back. I’m much more looking at this from the mental-health side,” Willard said. “These guys want to be back. It gives them back some normalcy. It gets them back to what they want to do. They want to play and they want to work out. They want to be doing what they love to do.

“This is not about basketball. To get them back to campus, to get them back with their teammates, with us, and get them back moving in the right direction, from a mental standpoint, it’s what’s best for these kids.”

St. John’s is somewhat behind the other two, with New York City entering Phase 4 of reopening on Monday, which is slated to allow it to gradually reopen for certain activities and functions. The team was in the process of returning to the area over the weekend and a handful of players — Greg Williams Jr., David Caraher, Isaih Moore, Vince Cole and Josh Roberts — will have to quarantine for two weeks because they will be coming from states with high coronavirus rates. Other players will be tested and in isolation until their test results come in. But there is the chance if all goes well, they can get into Taffner Field House by the end of the week for workouts that will include coaches. There will only be four players allowed in the gym at the same time.

“We’re several weeks away from anything resembling basketball practice,” athletic director Mike Cragg said. “It’s more about guys can workout at some point. We’re not in a big hurry. There’s no reason to be in a hurry.”

College basketball has that luxury. Unlike college football, which has to soon make a decision on whether it has to postpone the season, it can wait. These workouts don’t necessarily signal whether the season can start on time or will have to be pushed back until January, as some have suggested. It is a step forward, the chance for players and coaches to get reacquainted for the first time since the season prematurely ended in March.

“I’m just looking forward to getting in the gym with our guys, spending a little time with them,” Pikiell said. “It’s been a long time. They’re going to be in an environment where everyone is tested, COVID free, and they play some basketball.”