SEC To Allow Schools To Hold Virtual Meetings With Players
SEC schools reportedly received a memo Friday stating they will be allowed to start holding virtual meetings and instructional sessions with players.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported that football teams will be able to have meetings between players and their position coaches and that meetings can be no longer than two hours per week for all sports.
The memo is set to go into effect this Monday at noon.
This new provision can help coaches like South Carolina head men’s basketball coach Frank Martin, who said during a teleconference last week he hadn’t been able to hold an end of season meeting with his players since the abrupt end to their season.
The Gamecocks had earned a double-bye in the SEC Tournament and learned just minutes before the opening tip of their first game that the tournament was being discontinued.
“I have not had a chance to meet with players individually. I’ve been communicated with them over the past week but there’s just so much unknown,” Martin said. “…I’m gonna try and do what I’m doing with you guys with each individual player. I’m not a fan of doing these conversations on the phone or on Skype, or whatever. I like doing these meetings in person. But no, I have not had end of year meetings and to answer the blunt question at the end, no. I have no idea of any transfer situations right now.”
It was a whirlwind week leading up to the day the tournament was cancelled as updates were coming rapidly. Martin said they one time that Friday to really process all of the changes.
“It was basically just to rehash what had happened in the last 48 hours leading to that team meeting,” he said.
Moving forward, it will be less about X’s and O’s and more about keeping his players safe and healthy both physically and mentally.
“There’s no rush, it’s not like we all have somewhere to go,” Martin said. “But we need to figure out a way to have these conversations to continue to help them find peace at least for the South Carolina side of things.”