Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey thinks the NCAA needs to stop testing for coronavirus during March Madness.
The Bears were bounced from the tournament Monday night after a tough battle against UConn, but Mulkey is making waves for her stance on testing. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
She said the following losing to UConn, according to ESPN:
After the games today and tomorrow, there’s four teams left, I think, on the men’s side and the women’s side. They need to dump the COVID testing. Wouldn’t it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that test positive or something and they don’t get to play in the Final Four? So you just need to forget the COVID tests and get the four teams playing in each Final Four and go battle it out.”
In case you weren’t already aware, yes, Mulkey is trending on Twitter after these comments. Her name is all over the place right now.
Kim Mulkey says the NCAA should do away with COVID-19 testing for the Final Four, saying “Wouldn’t it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that test positive or something and they don’t get to play in the Final Four?” https://t.co/Y6yMEB0c7N
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 30, 2021
So unsolicited, and after a great performance by her team, Kim Mulkey suggested they stop testing the players for COVID because this inconvenient little pandemic might interfere with the Final Four.
Then again, she enthusiastically took her team to see Trump in the White House. https://t.co/BwEWa3i4Ip
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 30, 2021
Kim Mulkey just said the NCAA needs to stop COVID testing at the Final Four so that one team doesn’t get knocked out because of a positive test.
What?????????????
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) March 30, 2021
Believe it or not, I actually completely understand where Mulkey is coming from. That’s not to say I think we should immediately end all testing, but her point is very understandable.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who tested positive for COVID this season, in the postgame: pic.twitter.com/miLKKxZrQd
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) March 30, 2021
Imagine how painful it would be to get to the Final Four, test positive, be asymptomatic, get put in isolation and miss the biggest game of your career.
I don’t even want to think about the kind of gut punch that would be, especially if you were feeling just fine.
Remember, if you test positive before the first Final Four games start, there’s no chance you can play in the title game because of the timeline. So, you’re just cooked.
I’m sure she’s going to take a lot of hate, but from an emotional standpoint of caring about the players, I understand where she’s coming from.