Texas Basketball: Push emerging for seniors to get more eligibility

A lot of precautions to COVID-19 had an impact all over the sports world, boiling all the way down to the Texas basketball program.

It is a shame for any players that were about to have their time run out playing for the Texas basketball program to see their season potentially end with a March 7 home loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys by the final score of 81-59.

According to an official release from the NCAA on March 12, all winter and spring sports championships are to be canceled. That also includes all of the college basketball conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament. This could also mean that the Texas Longhorns basketball program sees their season conclude without playing a single game in the Big 12 Tournament.

Texas athletic director Chris del Conte announced on March 12 that the university would be suspending all athletics in response to the Big 12 and NCAA’s announcements putting everything on halt until March 29. The Longhorns could see their athletic teams resume at that point, but this is an ongoing situation that is being monitored day-by-day.

What also is a shame for Texas athletics across the board is the fact that so many title contending teams won’t be able to see through their efforts this academic year in their various sports. Baseball won’t be able to compete for a spot in the College World Series, basketball won’t be able to compete in the Big Dance, and women’s basketball won’t either.

Men’s tennis is coming off a national title season in 2019, but they won’t be able to defend that championship this season. There are so many other winter and spring sports teams that had hopes of competing for a Big 12 and/or national title.

However, the news that came to the forefront in the midst of the COVID-19 precautions and cancellations was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Big Dance was set to take place next week, and we’re just two days away from what would’ve been Selection Sunday.

Head coach Shaka Smart and his men’s basketball program is likely to now see their 2019-20 campaign come to a grinding halt. This means that any players, coaches, and other personnel associated with the program would have their season come to an abrupt and surprising end at a rough point.

Texas was on the bubble for Selection Sunday, and they were hoping to get in the NCAA Tournament field for just the third time in Smart’s tenure on the Forty Acres. Smart missed the Big Dance in two of his last three tries.

Given all this shock and confusion surrounding COVID-19 and the end to the college basketball season, there is a lot of push on social media recently to have seniors and a handful of other players given an extra year of eligibility.

The only senior that Texas has on the roster this season is guard Drayton Whiteside. But there’s other players like small forward Jase Febres, power forward Kamaka Hepa, and small forward Gerald Liddell that have an argument to get another year of eligibility back due to various injuries. Those three aforementioned forwards all missed time due to injuries for decent stretches over the 2019-20 campaign.

Even letting Whiteside back for one more NCAA Tournament run could be special given the way the 2019-20 campaign ended earlier this week. There’s a big social media and national push for this reason, coming from UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma, NBA point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, and Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo.

Texas finished up their 2019-20 men’s basketball season with a record of 19-12 (9-9 Big 12). Smart’s Longhorns team went on a run that saw them establish a five-game winning streak in five of their final six games. If not for that flat performance in the regular season finale against the Pokes, Texas could’ve gone into the Big 12 Tournament with a 20-win campaign.

It would be nice to get some type of positive news in the midst of this COVID-19 scare that has impacted almost every sphere of the sporting world, including Texas basketball, with a senior Whiteside having his career abruptly ended possibly.