Basketball seniors Will McWatters and Jalen Greene reflect on their seasons during COVID-19 outbreak
April 20, 2020
There is one certain thing that has come along with all of the uncertainty pertaining to the COVID-19 outbreak, and that is plans ending or changing.
One of those plans is the boys basketball playoffs. For senior Will McWatters, having his senior season ending in the blink of an eye made him think of the work he and his teammates had put in.
“I first thought of my teammates and coaches,” McWatters said. “All of the hard work put in all seemed like it was for nothing.”
With the abrupt ending to the playoff push the boys basketball team, it left McWatters thinking.
“The toughest part about not being able to play and the season being cancelled is that it was all over just like that and none of us saw it coming,” McWatters said.
Spending so much time together with practices, team dinners and everything else that goes with being a team created lasting memories that will be missed for the athletes.
“I will miss being able to spend time with my teammates and coaches,” McWatters said. “When you spend a part of every day together for three months your teammates and coaches become a second family to you and it’s tough to see our time as a team together go by.”
While the girls team made it to the playoffs as well, the COVID-19 lockdown has a similar effect on them. Senior Jalen Greene shares McWatters’ sentiments.
“I miss everything about it,” Green said. “I miss my teammates and my coaches. Oddly enough I miss running end of practice sprints with my team. Most of all I miss the sense of family that we all have when we are together. There’s honestly not one thing I don’t miss about playing Grand Haven basketball.”
As Greene looks back at her career as a Lady Buc, she has thought about what kind of advice to leave her teammates.
“I think the best advice I can give would be not to take the time you have playing for Coach K for granted,” Greene said. “I have never met a coach who is so dedicated to the well-being of her players both on and off the court. She genuinely loves her players and the game.”