Vol Hoops’ Player Tests Positive for COVID-19

One Tennessee men’s basketball player has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a GoVolsXtra article published Friday evening.

The players (except Uros Plavsic and Santiago Vescovi who remained home in Serbia and Uruguay, respectively) returned to campus starting Monday of last week and were all subject to two immediate tests: a nasal swab that identifies people who are currently infected and a blood test that looks for certain anti-bodies present in people who are no longer infected but previously carried the virus.

The player who tested positive was not immediately identified.

Here’s the statement issued by Tennessee’s sports information director Tom Satkowiak:

“After testing several domestic members of our men’s and women’s basketball teams, one male student-athlete tested positive for COVID-19. With a plan already in place, our Sports Medicine staff immediately activated isolation and contact-tracing protocol in collaboration with the Knox County Health Department. We are encouraged by this affirmation that our procedures work.”

Vol fans were undoubtedly encouraged by the football team’s sparkling return when most of the players returned June 8 and the only positive test result belonged to a graduate assistant. Numerous other programs around the country weren’t so lucky — Texas reported 13 positive cases, Houston reported six positive cases and Clemson announced a double-take inducing 23 positive cases after its return on June 1.

College basketball teams are so much smaller than football teams that the Vols’ one positive result for the hoops team seems quite manageable by comparison.

The university is requiring athletes to wear masks in all facilities, although while players are doing cardio he/ she is exempt from the rule.