On Friday, there was a bit of a surprise when it was announced that the Dec. 30 game between Villanova and St. John’s was being postponed. The only details that were provided were that Villanova felt that its players “needed a break.”

Following Saturday’s win over St. Joe’s, Jay Wright provided some more details into why and how the decision came about and what the program will actually be doing with the break.

Wright said Villanova reached out to St. John’s to bring up the possibility of postponing the game and agreement from the Johnnies was key. “We were going to play if St. John’s wanted to play,” Wright said. “St. John’s actually wanted to do the same thing that we did, they felt like they’re guys needed a break. So, we called them first, if they would have said ‘no, we wanna play’ we were gonna stay and play out of respect for them. But they said, ‘no this is good for us too, we need to take a break’. We wanted to take a break, but we didn’t want to do it at the expense of someone else that was counting us.”

With agreement from St. John’s to postpone the game, there were still logistical issues on Villanova’s end regarding what the best way to take a break was. The point of the break is to give the players a chance to see their families, and originally the plan was to simply let them go home for the holiday. But after getting some clarity on protocols, that option no longer seemed feasible. “We actually made the decision to let them go home,” Wright said. “At that time, it was a seven-day quarantine if someone tested positive. Then we found out it’s not a seven-day quarantine, we’re gonna go by 10-day if someone tested positive and then we gotta get tested for heart issues.”

As Villanova has already learned, these quarantine numbers are minimums and the layoff can last much longer. “So, when you hear a 14-day quarantine, it was 23 days with the heart tests (the last time Nova had to quarantine).” As such, sending the players home would have been quite disruptive and would have put a handful of games in doubt. Still, Wright was willing to allow his players to go home, but they didn’t want to take the risk of losing games. “Once we got that (protocol clarification), we had to go back to the guys and say alright you can still go home, this is what it’s gonna be, and then they said we don’t want to,” Wright said.

Instead, the players’ families will be invited to campus. “We’re gonna have their parents come in, that way we know who they’re in contact with,” Wright said. The coach said that the parents will test first, and they will still be careful. “They’re gonna come and meet with them in the Finneran Pavilion,” Wright said. “We have space set up for each family, social distance. Just so they get to see each other.”

The team itself will be taking extra precautions as well. “We’re still gonna quarantine just to take precautions because the players’ main concern is they do not want to miss a game,” Wright said. The break is going to consist of four days of no practice, and then as an extra precaution, the players will work out individually for two days when they get back at it.

Like a lot of things in this strange season, the whole break idea became a balancing act. Wright felt that the players needed, and deserved, a break but they didn’t want to do anything that would compromise games. So, they ultimately found a way where the players could get a little break and see their families without having to enter a full-on quarantine upon returning and where they could retain a bit of control over the environment. “The players don’t think they need a break, and I just know they’ve done such a good job and sacrificed so much that I think as the adult I have to tell them I’m giving you a break, you need to take a break,” Wright said.

While Wright said the players don’t think they need a break, it sounds as if they are grateful to be getting one and think it will be a positive for the rest of the season. “I think it’s something everybody needs,” Jeremiah Robinson-Earl said. “We love playing the game, we love practicing, we love getting after it so I think it’s a necessary thing just kind of a little mental break before finishing out the second half of the season. I think it will be good for our team.”

Justin Moore is proud of the way the team has handled things so far and thinks a short break will be a good thing. “I think all of us have been doing a great job being disciplined, trying to do what’s best for the team and staying in a bubble, not seeing anybody, staying focused on basketball and each other,” Moore said. “So, I think it’s good just to get a little break from the basketball things, just spend Christmastime with each other, just regenerate.”

Likewise, Wright thinks the break is both needed and deserved. “Everything they’ve been through since we started, we started a bubble at the beginning of November to prepare three weeks out from going to Connecticut… they’ve had no contact with anybody,” Wright said. “No girlfriends, no family, nobody.”

The sacrifices the players have made to make this season possible are impressive, and it’s easy to understand the mental toll they can take. Ultimately, a break may not only be needed but it is definitely deserved, and Wright was going to try to make that happen. With a little help from St. John’s and some creativity, he was able to do so.