Chad Courrier: Most of Mavericks head for North Dakota

Chad Courrier, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·3 min read

Jan. 21—Back in November, Minnesota State men's basketball coach Matt Margenthaler was pretty happy that all of his players were vaccinated against the COVID virus, giving his team the best chance to have an uninterrupted season.

But it hasn't worked out that way.

"This has been the hardest year I've had coaching because you just don't know what's going to happen," Margenthaler said. "It's been tough on the guys, mentally, too."

Because of some positive COVID tests, and changes to NCAA guidelines for vaccinations and quarantining, it's been almost three weeks since the Mavericks took the court. That streak, hopefully, will end Friday at Minot State and Saturday at Mary.

But it hasn't been without challenges. Even on Thursday morning, just a couple hours before he thought most of his players were going to get on the bus to North Dakota, Margenthaler received word that only nine produced a negative test and will make the road trip.

The Mavericks have only played 14 games this season, fewest in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference along with Minot State, with a 4-4 record in league games. They are tied for fifth in the South Division with 10 games to play, with the top six in each division qualifying for the conference tournament.

But to get into the postseason tournament, a team must play at least 16 conference games, meaning there isn't much room for another pause.

"We need to get some wins to stay within reach of where we want to be," Margenthaler said. "On the road ... this is a big weekend for our program."

Minnesota State was going to play at home last weekend against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, but by Thursday, there were just six players who had cleared protocols and were available.

Margenthaler said he has rescheduled the game with St. Cloud State for Feb. 1, though it will be considered a nonconference game. He said he would like to reschedule with Minnesota Duluth.

This weekend, the usual starters Malik Willingham, Kelby Kramer, Quincy Anderson and Devonte Thedford will be available, with Kyreese Willingham, Harrison Braudis, Noah Hart, Shawn Hopkins and Tyrell Stuttley also along.

Brady Williams, Mason Muller and Chase Bartlett have not cleared protocols, and Ryland Holt, who had a medical situation while he was home in Illinois during the holiday break, still hasn't returned to Mankato.

"I think it's going to look a lot like the beginning of the season, maybe a little ugly at times," Margenthaler said. "The guys really want to play so their energy will be high. But it's hard to simulate game conditions in practice."

Margenthaler said everyone on the team received the first two vaccines, and some of the players have gotten the booster. Others will get the booster once they've had 14 days since a positive test.

Once everyone on the team has the booster, individual players might miss games because of positive tests, but one or two tests won't sideline the entire team.

It makes Margenthaler more confident that games will be played, but like last year, you don't know if a game will be played until the basketball gets tossed in the air.

"This has been harder than last year," he said. "You just never know."

Chad Courrier is the Free Press sports editor. He's at 507-344-6353, ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com or on Twitter @ChadCourrier.