Arizona Athletics: No season could mean more players go elsewhere

With Covid still having its impact on Fall Sports, that means the Arizona Athletics and the Pac-12 could be in danger of losing their best players.

As repercussions of COVID-19 have hit Tucson yet again, the procession of players leaving the Arizona Athletics programs continues on. Now it’s important to note, that none of the blame is on the coaches or the players themselves.

With no season in sight for any of the Arizona Athletic program, this could be the first wave of players who look elsewhere to play.

Arizona Wildcats

As fans of the Arizona Football program, it started with Tony Fields II who left for West Virginia on his own terms. Now, one could argue it was due to disagreement with coaching styles, or him wanting to showcase his talent for the NFL. But you can’t help but think now that maybe he saw a cancellation was coming, and with West Virginia still planning on pushing through their fall season, that decision helped sway him.

The next tumble came days ago as one of the best players on the football program decided to enter the transfer portal in Colin Schooler. In what should have been no shock to many, is his older brother Brenden followed in his footsteps.

As right now, the Wildcats football program does not have the personnel to run their designed defense. So with no season in the fall and players that are planning to go pro are starting to opt out in the spring. What is the big issue?

And keep in mind, this is just the Arizona Football program. We don’t know how the other Pac-12 programs have been affected by the decision to have no season in the fall.

https://twitter.com/azathletics/status/1293698280497377280?s=21

As for Arizona Basketball and all the talent on their roster, any players who are looking into getting to the NBA are going to want to play here. But what if there is no season at all?  Do players decide they want to go elsewhere? In that case, where would you go to get more game film?

How about all the overseas players that have committed to Sean Miller this year? It is very possible that some of them go back to play pro-ball overseas and we never get a chance to see them in the red and blue.

As Wildcats fans, one also thinks about what could have been if players leave our Softball and Women’s basketball team. They have the talent to do some serious damage in the upcoming season. Losing talent from those rosters would be disheartening considering the work coaches like Adia Barnes and Mike Candrea have put in.

Of course these are just a few athletic programs within the University, but this problem is universal throughout the country. Students who play college sports are competitive and just want to play. It is hard to imagine that sitting out a season is even a valid option for most of these athletes attending the U of A.

This all could have perhaps been avoided too, if the Pac-12 and the NCAA would have developed a plan long before the season was just a month away. Instead they were asleep at the wheel and we are feeling the effects from this disaster.

As Wildcat fans, we can’t criticize these athletes for leaving, but instead be supportive of their decision. We get through this pandemic as a united Wildcats community! As always, Bear Down and Go Cats!