Trying to put the University of Maine men’s basketball season in a competitive perspective is no less challenging than trying to assess most other elements of living amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Black Bears on Saturday announced their decision to withdraw from the remainder of the 2020-21 schedule due to a lack of players cleared to compete because of COVID-19 issues.
UMaine went 2-7 in the games it played between lengthy pauses in activity, one at the start of the regular season and again after a Jan. 17 game at Vermont. That was the last time this winter that coach Richard Barron’s club either played or practiced.
“The timing was unfortunate for us,” Barron said. “We weren’t going to be able to get through it and sustain it.”
UMaine joined Howard, Bethune-Cookman, Chicago State, Maryland-Eastern Shore and members of the Ivy League as Division I men’s basketball programs to opt out of the season.
The Black Bears, who played only eight of 18 scheduled America East regular-season contests, made the final decision last Friday.
“It was definitely tough to have that uncertainty and always be in limbo and unsure of what was going to happen, which is why I think it was really important for us to come to a decision the group and the players were all in accordance with,” UMaine sophomore captain Stephane Ingo said.
“Generally the mood was kind of antsy. We wanted to know if we could play or not, which is why I think the decision was a good decision and we made it at a good time,” Ingo said.
The 6-foot-9 forward from Mississauga, Ontario, via Gould Academy in Bethel, was one of the bright spots in the UMaine lineup for the second straight season. The defensive presence and improving offensive source finished second on the squad with 10.6 points per game and ranks among America East leaders in rebounds (8.6 per game) and blocked shots (2.6 bpg).
“I think there’s reason for great optimism about his future,” Barron said.
Another emerging player was guard LeChaun DuHart. The 5-11 freshman from Aurora, Colorado, via Western Wyoming, averaged a team-best 11.5 points and ranked fourth in the conference with his .385 3-point shooting percentage. That included a 5-of-7 effort from the arc during a 15-point first half against Boston College.
“I think there’s great reason for us to be optimistic and look forward to our future,” Barron said. “I also think there’s things that we’ve got to get better at and that would be true no matter what.”
Both Barron and Ingo said the recency of the team’s decision to end its season makes it difficult to assess the program’s immediate future.
“This is a little raw for us right now, too,” Barron said. “There’s a little bit of a grieving process we’ve got to go through before we even get to that point and have that perspective.”
Making this season, particularly the early stages, even more difficult to assess is the fact that UMaine’s COVID-delayed 0-3 start came against opponents with considerably more game experience.
When UMaine finally opened Dec. 19 at Hartford, the Hawks already had played five games. Those 63-60 and 65-50 losses were followed two days later by a 78-62 defeat at Boston College, which had played six games.
“I think down the line we can look back more about the season and see how we were competitive in most games and how a lot of different guys showed flashes, which is what we’re going to build on,” Ingo said.
He nonetheless stressed the Black Bears’ need to get better, a process that will continue during the offseason.
By the time these Black Bears finished their Vermont trip, they had completed just 24 practices and nine games — compared with 37 days of no activity — since playing their opener at Hartford.
“The biggest thing was we couldn’t safely do it,” Barron said of halting the season. “We had so many cases coming out of that last trip, it put us in a situation where we didn’t have enough people to play a game and we weren’t going to get those other people back.”
