We will all have our stories to tell from last week as the Coronavirus changed life as we know it, but I'd like to share mine – at least part of it.
 
In the weeks ahead, I will use this space to update you on our plans for Stony Brook Athletics as we navigate our way into the future. Although it is a future filled with unknowns, it is one with boundless opportunity.
 
As I told our staff last Friday, we will come out of this stronger than ever. This is a time to reinvent ourselves and the manner in which we operate. We must wholeheartedly embrace change. There is simply no other choice. More on that later.
 
About last week…

THURSDAY
 
9:50 a.m. – After meeting with members of my senior staff, I walked from my office to the arena floor where Jamie Stuart from News 12 was waiting. He was on campus to interview me, Caroline McCombs and Hailey Zeise about our women's basketball championship game set for the following day at 5 p.m. At that time, I had every confidence that the game would be played – but with the knowledge that the audience would likely be restricted to family members and essential game personnel.
 
Following the interview, Caroline and Hailey joined the rest of the team to watch film prior to their practice. I went back to my office and continued to meet with members of my staff as we prepared for the eventuality of playing a game in a largely empty Island Federal Arena.
 
12 p.m. – As our team practiced downstairs, news broke that the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 were canceling their championship tournaments – immediately. I knew that it was a matter of minutes before I would receive a call from America East Commissioner, Amy Huchthausen with the inevitable news that our tournament was next.
 
Just like that, it was over.  
 
As I hung up the phone my thoughts immediately turned to our team and to Caroline, who has given so much of herself over the past six seasons to deliver the first women's basketball title to Stony Brook. I took a deep breath and made way back to the arena floor to deliver the devastating news. 
 
As I looked into the eyes of each player and coach, the pain was pronounced. They had worked so hard for the opportunity to win a championship on their home floor and that was being taken from them. Although I could never give them that back, they earned their place in history as the first team to win an America East title. Everybody lingered on the court for a while, unsure of what to do or where to go. Caroline quickly organized a team lunch while I went back upstairs holding out hope that there would still be an NCAA Tournament for us to compete in next week.
 
2 p.m. – The America East ADs convened for a call to discuss the fate of our spring sports. It was our second call in the last 24 hours and, as events around us were rapidly unfolding, we needed to come to some consensus especially as rumors began to run rampant that the conference would follow Wednesday's decision by the Ivy League to cancel.
 
We ultimately decided to suspend spring competitions through April 3. Our hope was that suspending the spring sports would allow us time to salvage the season for baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis and outdoor track and field.
 
Once that call concluded, I knew that I needed to gather our entire department – coaches, staff and all student-athletes on campus – so they could hear directly from me what was happening.   
 
4 p.m. – Our meeting was initially scheduled to take place in our Goldstein Family Student-Athlete Development Center but was quickly moved to the arena to accommodate everyone.
 
I shared the latest from the America East about the spring sports along with other relevant updates. As I prepared to end the meeting, Associate AD Patrick Muffley showed me his phone with a tweet from the NCAA announcing the cancellation of all remaining winter and spring championships.
 
It was like a punch to the face that no one saw coming. The news that I had shared minutes earlier about a suspended season was obsolete. The 2019-20 athletic year was done.
 
Fortunately, most of our department was in one place. (Unfortunately, our softball team was practicing at the time of the meeting and didn't receive the news until they came off of the field). I walked over to the area of the court where Joe Spallina had gathered his women's lacrosse team. Talk immediately turned to the possibility of an additional year of eligibility for all spring student-athletes. I told them that I would do everything that I could to help them get it.  
 
FRIDAY
 
9 a.m. – After that hammer fell on Thursday, it was important to gather the staff again. Everyone was struggling but we needed to pick ourselves up and move forward. This would be a time of anxiety for our student-athletes as well as for us. The unknown is real but, as I mentioned earlier, so too is the opportunity. We will be back in 2020-21 with the fiercest fire that anyone has ever seen. It may look different and feel different, but this is our time to shine.
 
10 a.m. – I participated on an emergency call of the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee, which took two very important actions: immediately institute a dead period for recruiting through at least April 15 while we "agreed that it will be appropriate to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports."
 
I am very proud of my colleagues as well as the NCAA staff for moving to provide some clarity to all spring sport student-athletes. There are still details to work out, but this is a time to put the student-athletes where they belong – at the center of our universe.
 
Stay tuned…
 
There will be a time and place to celebrate our women's basketball team and allow them to cut down the nets. We are in possession of the championship trophy along with the hats and shirts that are rightfully theirs. A women's championship banner will be hung for the first time in our Division I history as well.
 
For now, this is a time to be safe. I hope that all of you, as well as your family and friends stay healthy and safe. To our health care workers and first responders, you have my undying respect and gratitude. We will get through this together. 
 
Trust me, we'll be back. Our year may have ended prematurely, but our fire is only burning brighter and hotter.
 
Keep believing!


 
Shawn