Top prospects at Peach Jam, one of the most important summer basketball tournaments, hoped to impress college scouts but have been sidelined by coronavirus cases.
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The recent surge of coronavirus cases has waylaid the Olympic hopes of dozens of athletes and sidelined Major League Baseball players like Aaron Judge of the Yankees in the last week, so perhaps it is predictable that a Delta variant that has thrived among unvaccinated people would pose a particular threat to the peripatetic world of grass roots youth basketball.
The Peach Jam tournament, the premier high school basketball showcase event that annually attracts the best college prospects from around the country — and team sponsors like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook — is limping to Sunday’s finish line after players on at least five boys’ teams tested positive for the virus in recent days.
Among them are two prominent players from New York: Kyle Filipowski, a 6-foot-11 forward who is being heavily targeted by Duke and Kentucky among others, and J.J. Starling, a 6-foot-4 guard who is considering Syracuse, Stanford, Alabama, Connecticut and Notre Dame among a long list of suitors.
The interruption caused by new cases may be a preview of the challenge that lies ahead for college sports in the fall. Even as many schools are planning to welcome back capacity crowds for football, vaccine hesitancy could provide a ripe environment for the spread of the coronavirus. Vaccination rates have lagged in the football-mad South, where officials like Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey have said the season hinges on teams and their supporters getting the vaccine. Alabama Coach Nick Saban even appeared in an ad on behalf of the local public health department, urging fans to get vaccinated.
Though vaccination rates are higher in the West, Washington State Coach Nick Rolovich said Wednesday he would not travel to Los Angeles for the Pac-12 Conference media day because he has chosen not to get vaccinated.
It is uncertain how many players have tested positive at Peach Jam. Tournament organizers declined to make an official available for comment Wednesday or answer questions about the extent of the positive tests. Three coaches said they were instructed by tournament officials not to comment on the issue.
The cases among the boys, who have been playing here since July 13, came as the girls’ event began on Wednesday, greatly increasing the number of players, parents and college recruiters roaming the crowded hallways of the Riverview Park Activities Center, a six-court facility.
Peach Jam, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic, had banned fans from the event this year and required masks to be worn before entering the building. Still, a main court was packed Wednesday night to watch LeBron James Jr., who goes by Bronny, play a team featuring Emoni Bates, a highly touted forward from Michigan.
Girls and boys teams, their families, support personnel, and N.B.A. scouts crowded into the bleacher seats, far more spectators than had watched James, who will be a high school junior this fall, play on Tuesday when mask wearing was more infrequent. Anthony and Jonathan Kuminga, an expected lottery pick in next week’s N.B.A. draft, sat courtside in seats apart from the bleachers. A security official went around the gym on Wednesday night, handing out masks and instructing spectators to wear them. In some other games on Wednesday, players were asked to wear masks when they were on the bench.
The 120,000-square foot recreation center could be even more packed on Friday when hundreds of men’s college coaches arrive for the final live recruiting weekend of the summer. (The N.B.A. permitted its scouts to attend Peach Jam on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — when college men’s coaches were not permitted — to get an early look at players who might be in the 2023 draft.)
Adidas and Under Armour have also sponsored youth basketball competitions this month, but those have been spread out at different sites over three weekends. The Adidas event concluded last weekend in Omaha and the Under Armour tournament near Indianapolis will finish this weekend. Nike instead squeezed its 2021 boys summer travel season into a two-week window.
As a result, Peach Jam, unlike the other tournaments, required players and coaches to submit coronavirus tests 72 hours before the event’s start and have been tested each day, according to several parents and players. According to a participant who requested anonymity because tournament directors told them not to speak to reporters, if a team is scheduled to play before 2 p.m., they are tested in the afternoon. If the game is set to be played after 2 p.m., the players are tested in the morning.
Filipowski, who had been one of the best players here, is one of four members of the New York Rens who were sidelined Wednesday because of positive tests, according to an official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the cases. Filipowski’s twin brother Matthew, a 7-foot-1 center, did play.
Starling’s father, Patrick, said his son tested positive for the virus on Monday and initially had a headache and fever. According to Patrick, none of J.J.’s teammates had tested positive. Isolating in his hotel room, the younger Starling streamed his team’s Wednesday game on his phone and his dad provided orange juice and flu medicines. Though J.J.’s feeling better, the Starlings may have to remain here until he can test negative in order to fly home. His next test was scheduled for Friday.
“He’s hurting by not being out here playing,” Patrick said. “He’s been waiting for two years to be able to compete here. All these players deserve to be here. It’s the biggest opportunity of all.”
Source: Basketball - nytimes.com
