C.J. Jackson and Nick Ward are used to managing pregame nerves on some of the biggest stages in college basketball, but they and the rest of the participants in The Basketball Tournament underwent a different kind of anxiety this past week.
Before players could be cleared to enter the COVID-free “bubble zone" at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio, they each had to get through a day of waiting to hear if their results came back positive or negative.
“The first test was very nerve-racking because it’s like, you want to play in this thing, you already agreed to play in this thing, and as soon as you take the test, you wait on the results,” Ward, a Columbus native and former Michigan State big man said Wednesday during a media session on Zoom. “It’s like, ‘Do I have it? Do I not? Am I asymptomatic?’”
Ward is playing alongside former Buckeyes like Jackson and Andrew Dakich on the tournament’s “Big X” team, which was originally slated to feature several more Buckeyes. But the team announced Monday that former Buckeye guard Keyshawn Woods would no longer be participating in the tournament due to his exposure to the virus, and Dakich said former Ohio State forward Jae’Sean Tate found out he got the virus in Houston at the beginning of June.
“We’re hoping that he’s enough days out to where he’ll test negative too,” Dakich said. “He could delay if he could join us on Friday or Saturday due to the protocols here at TBT. He’s got to wait five days and he understands that and he’s all on board regardless.”
Kaleb and Andre Wesson were in talks to play for Big X as well, but both backed out well before the testing period for TBT players in Columbus due to other professional opportunities.
“So they were in from the beginning. Obviously due to the coronavirus the NBA draft and all the workouts have been pushed back, and this was the opportunity for guys who were possibly going to get drafted to play in this,” Dakich said. “Unfortunately it just didn’t work out with those two, they want to focus on getting ready for their professional careers and obviously I fully support that.”
Kaleb Wesson was the one that helped Dakich get in touch with Ward, the Gahanna Lincoln High School alum that averaged career numbers of 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for Tom Izzo at Michigan State from 2016-19.
Ward went head-to-head with Jackson and the Buckeyes six times, with the Spartans getting the better of the matchup on four occasions. Now though, they team up in hopes of taking revenge against the Carmen’s Crew team that knocked Big X out of the competition a season ago.
The nerves have gone away following positive tests for Jackson, Ward, and the other members of the Big X roster, they said, which enables them to focus their attention back to the upcoming matchups on the court.
“I’m excited to play [Carmen’s Crew] again, get to go at it again this year,” Jackson said. “Kind of a bad taste in our mouth last year. Just being able to play against guys that you, I mean, my three years at Ohio State I played with them every year, so just being able to do that again will be fun.”
Other than a bit of friendly trash talk, there’s not much rivalrous contention between competitors inside the bubble. Instead, in between games of Fortnite, cards and watching movies, Jackson said players reminisce about old times on the hardwood.
“We had a couple times when we just had some storytelling because a lot of these guys we just competed against or with for so long –– for years and years –– so being able to talk about those moments now that we’re looking back on it is pretty fun,” Jackson said.
Even though Jackson said the first game will require a learning curve for most of the players due to the lack of spectators, Dakich said there’s no better way for non-NBA players to showcase their game, even with the risk of injury or potential virus exposure.
“You get to play on ESPN, you get to play for over a million dollars, and it’s the only thing that’s happening,” Dakich said. “This is a perfect year for TBT that I think it's just gonna be an exceptional tournament.”
The tournament begins July 4 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, with games airing on ESPN through July 14. Big X will have the first game on the docket, taking on the Jackson TN Underdawgs at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
