Knowing his team would not be playing any games before January at the earliest, women's basketball coach Kyle Wilson had a simple practice plan for the fall.
 
"We just wanted to keep our kids active and in somewhat of a routine," said Wilson. "It (practice) wasn't every single day, but we wanted to find a way to get them involved and in the gym."
 
Wilson's women never took the court as a full unit, instead, small groups relating to the roster size for a three-on-three tournament was more common. The shoot-around style practices occurred in the mornings, and adjusted to each student-athlete's class schedule. That created more work for Wilson, but also created a focus, a goal for his team just months after making only the second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
 
"Our whole thought process was to prepare to play in January," explained Wilson. "I think the women kept a positive outlook through it all. Of course, the uncertainty did affect them to a degree, but overall, I think they enjoyed having a structure and being able to get into the gym. Just having some sort of normalcy was good for them."
 
Good, too, was Wilson's ability to get an individualized look at each player, thanks in part to the lack of holding full blown practices. The small group sizes meant Wilson – now in his sixth season at Monmouth – could give personalized one-on-one instruction.
 
"We kept the groups limited to no more than three and never had the entire team together at any one time," said Wilson. "Everything has been super-individual instruction. We've done skill development and workout type drills with no contact. It's not the same as if we didn't have the COVID restrictions and it not a 'normal' basketball season, but we were at least able to get a basketball in their hands."
 
Admittedly, Wilson had to adjust his practice schedule, but did his internal clock tell him something was amiss?
 
"Not really for me personally," said Wilson who had long prepared for the eventuality leading up to October. "When we finished in March, everything was up in the air, so I wasn't counting on anything coming into the fall. Part of that is, we're not seeing a bunch of other schools playing. It's not like we were seeing Division I schools playing in November, or a bunch of high school teams playing. It's like we're all in the same boat and I guess in some aspects that's made it a little easier to deal with it. I really don't have a sense of missing out on something."
 
Students, including Wilson's team, departed the week of Thanksgiving for a two-month break and came a full week prior to the Midwest Conference Presidents' Council ruling on the fate of the winter sports season. Two months is a long time away from the coach and the court…not to mention leaving with the future season still hanging in the balance.
 
"First and foremost, I told the women to stay safe and be smart," reported Wilson of his advice to his team as they headed home. "The primary message was 'Don't put yourself in a position where you can get sick.' That's No. 1. Secondly, they'll need to find a way to continue to get in shape, better shape than we are now. They're definitely not in the basketball shape they would be in for a normal December. We just need to come back in January ready to go."
 
Wilson's team, and the rest of the Midwest Conference will remain in practice mode in January and beyond after receiving word that there will be no games this season after the league's Presidents' Council yesterday opted to cancel the 2020-21 season. That means the Scots will continue to work on their skills as they did in the fall, but this time knowing their season is a year away.
 
"Miserable," said Wilson when asked what January and February would look like with the absence of basketball. "It's a tough situation for everyone to be in. Academics will need to be our focus and making sure we're taking care of our classroom responsibilities. That also means we're probably still facing some safety issues and we'll have to maintain our safeguards as we did in the fall. Taking care of our health, and the health of our campus community so perhaps the spring sports can have a season is our priority now."