Could Purdue host NCAA games? Bobinski discusses that and much more

MORE: Bobinski: 'I have complete confidence in where we're going' | Bobinski guiding Purdue through 'year of significant financial challenge'

The health and safety of student-athletes and staff is a top priority for Purdue during the pandemic.

Testing protocols were put in place to manage the situation. And Purdue has navigated the process without any serious issues, according to athletic director Mike Bobinski.

“The good news is that literally with maybe one exception, everyone that has actually ultimately contracted the virus has had relatively manageable-to-mild symptoms,” said Bobinski during an expansive interview on the Purdue radio network on Thursday. “That's the good news.”

Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm contracted the virus and had to miss the season-opening victory vs. Iowa in October. The school also announced in November that sophomore defensive end George Karlaftis tested positive. It's believed numerous football players--and some staff members--have contracted the virus. The school doesn't typically release names.

While physical issues associated with the virus can be problematic, the mental health aspect of the pandemic has had its own challenges, too.

“The mental health piece of it, that probably has been as much of a challenge,” said Bobinski. “This has been for lots of people, for our entire society, community, you name it, a grind. It’s just been a grind, an every day series of adjustments and challenges that literally you don't know when you wake up in the morning, OK, what’s it going to be today? Where do we have to shift? How do we have to adjust? And that does wear on you.”

A plan has been hatched by the NCAA to conduct the 2021 men’s basketball tournament in the Indianapolis area. By keeping the event in one region, there’s a presumed better chance to protect players and staffers from the COVID-19 virus. It’s vital the NCAA tournament takes place after last year’s event was cancelled.

“That is the economic driver for the entire NCAA,” said Bobinski. “Lots of the mid-sized to smaller conferences, Divisions One, Two and Three, rely on that men's basketball tournament to provide them a significant source of funding. Last year, that was compromised severely. And a second year of that would really put the whole dynamic at risk, the whole organization at risk. So, it's important to do everything possible to make it happen, assuming it can be done safely and responsibly.”

Could Purdue be part of the event as a host?

“We at Purdue have had conversations with the NCAA Men's Basketball staff,” said Bobinski. “They’ve already made one visit up here to look at us as a potential participant in helping those early rounds come off. They’ll need multiple sites to do that right. We are more than happy and willing to do everything we can to be a good partner, and to be able to host potentially as many as four games over two days, two in two I think might be the plan. We’re hopeful that gets done, because we want to be part of the solution.”

Too early to tell if there will be any fans in attendance, according to Bobinski.

Anyone who has watched a Purdue basketball on TV sees it and hears it: The lack of atmosphere in Mackey Arena.

The venue annually is regarded as one of the most raucous home courts in the nation, providing the Boilermakers will a distinct edge. But, no fans are allowed in the iconic edifice due to concerns over COVID-19. How do you try to create a home-court advantage with an empty arena?

“It’s hard,” said Bobinski. “I don't think anybody's cracked the code on that one yet. We’ve got this artificial crowd noise that's in there that just isn't doing the job in my book. I’m amongst the 25 people or so that are in the building, and it's more of an annoyance than it is anything else. I think at those key times and timeouts, we try to electrify the place with music and all that to try to give it some signs of life, but it is not the Mackey that we all know and that we all love.”

The hope: Purdue never will have to deal with Mackey Arena being devoid of fans again.

“We're all hopeful that this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation that we'll never have to deal with again,” said Bobinski.

Purdue will play host to Maryland on Christmas. Don’t get used to the holiday hoops event.

“This is probably yet another 2020-only situation,” said Bobinski. “And it was sort of a players-led initiative around the league, where they were concerned about the prospect of going home over Christmas break, coming back and potentially bringing back with them virus issues and all that.

“So, they basically said, we don't want to go home during that holiday break. And if we're going to not go home, rather than sit in our room and just practice, how about we play and really sort of share in that excitement that they've watched the NBA teams that play on Christmas Day experience over the course of time?”

Tip-off will be at 2:30 p.m. ET in Mackey Arena on December 25.

“I think it'll be for our guys a really nice way to kind of get through the holiday and not feel like they're missing out on something, they're actually doing something unique and exciting to them.”

This is an era of empowerment for student-athletes. And no piece of pending NCAA legislation appears to be more potentially transformational than the Name, Image and Likeness movement that is on its way.

“There's an element of fundamental fairness that President (Mitch) Daniels and I have talked about, where certainly someone's name, image and likeness is sort of inherent and essential to their being,” said Bobinski. “The fact that they should have the ability to control that and have some say over how it's used, and if there's compensation to be derived, and probably they should benefit from that.”

How it gets implemented and executed is where things get interesting.

“We’ve got states that have enacted legislation,” said Bobinski. “We've got multiple bills flying around Congress, some of which are very much on the fringe and in taking extreme positions. And then we've got the NCAA circulating potential legislation changes that could be voted on in January to enable this new world of commercial opportunities, endorsement opportunities, autograph signings, things that in the past which were absolutely taboo, running their own camps and clinics, giving lessons for fees based on their athletic ability.”

Bobinski fears the initiation of NIL rules could be a filled with upheaval.

“All of that is coming around the corner here,” said Bobinski. “I’d like to tell you that it's really well organized and it's going to be orderly and systematic. It’s not going to be. It’s going to be likely very chaotic and particularly in this first year. Lots of people are looking at this from afar, on the fringes, looking at this as a potential cottage industry for themselves.

“I'm afraid that there will be probably some missteps and false starts as this thing rolls out. Period. But it is absolutely going to happen. There's too much momentum behind it. There's no way that we're going to put this train back in the station at this point. It’s going to come out and we just need to make sure it stays on the tracks to the best of our ability.”

Bobinski and Purdue will do all they can to guide student-athletes … to a point.

“Here at Purdue, our approach is going to be to provide the highest degree of education and support that we can for our student-athletes,” said Bobinski. “We’re not permitted nor do we have any interest in establishing these arrangements or potential business opportunities for our athletes. That's prohibited by every statute and NCAA legislation.

“However, we do want our young people to be armed with the best information and the best knowledge about what the opportunities there are that might be available to them. Some of it, I mildly understand. Some of it, I don't understand at all. But it's going to be out there and we’ve got a team that we put together that's worked really hard to develop a strategy and a plan that will best position our students going forward.”

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