Tennessee Men's Basketball Player Tests Positive for COVID-19

The University of Tennessee announced that one Men's Basketball player tested positive for the Coronavirus on Friday afternoon, as anxiety soars for programs across the nation...

The University of Tennessee has done an outstanding job preventing the spread of COVID-19 on campus. However, even when a program does everything the right way during a pandemic, they can still see some spread of the contagious illness in their community.

On Friday evening, the University of Tennessee officially announced that one player on the men’s basketball team, whose identity will remain unknown, tested positive for COVID-19. The news was initially reported by GoVols247. 

“After testing several domestic members of our men’s and women’s basketball teams, one male student-athlete tested positive for COVID-19,” said Tom Satkowiak, the director of sports information for the University of Tennessee on Friday. “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.”

The University of Tennessee’s football program has not seen any players contract the highly contagious respiratory illness, but the news regarding the basketball team is almost certainly a concern for Jeremy Pruitt and his staff — whose season is currently scheduled to begin on September 5th. Pruitt announced that no players associated with the football program had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, and that they would continue to follow all of the NCAA and SEC guidelines put in place to protect student-athletes. “We’re really taking precautions, you know, from the COVID, you know, social distancing, following all the SEC and the NCAA guidelines,” said the 3rd year Tennessee football head coach through an online teleconference.

Every player on the University of Tennessee’s basketball roster is currently on campus, with the exception of Santiago Vescovi (Uruguay) and Uros Plavsic (Serbia) — who are both currently with their families in their respective home countries. It is currently unknown how this news will affect any potential return to Knoxville.

The news of the positive test comes as anxieties are at a high point for programs across the country as they are all battling the virus in hopes of slowing it down enough in time for the College Football season. The University of Tennessee, especially the football program, is in better shape than numerous others across the country — such as Clemson, where 23 football players tested positive for COVID-19, Texas, where 13 football players have tested positive, and Houston, where 6 student-athletes tested positive.

While the College Football season is looming on the horizon, the College Basketball season is still relatively far away — as the season is still 127 days away from its start, giving the Volunteers plenty of time to make sure the basketball program’s situation doesn’t spiral out of control. This article will be updated as any additional information surfaces.