SEAN MANZELLA: Basketball at Thornden Park is a long missed hobby in Syracuse for many students, residents and all basketball fans in the area.
Jahvon Olmstead: Backboard, backboard.
MANZELLA: Including Jahvon Olmstead.
OLMSTEAD: OH! Yo, I didn’t even know I was gonna catch that. My bad.
MANZELLA: Although they don’t look it Jahvon and his friend Warren Dixon are only freshman.
OLMSTEAD: I wanted to dunk it but, I didn’t. I wanted to. Thats for you. That was just for you. Seven-Six. *Blows Kiss* So when Covid came and took all the hoops down, I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I got bored. It was good in a way because I got more friends. I was more social. I started to do more stuff that was out of my area. But it was bad because I was bored. I was lost.
MANZELLA: For players like Peter, Jahvon, and Warren giving up basketball wasn’t a thought that even crossed their minds. So when Syracuse announced the courts here on South Campus, in front of the Women’s building, and indoors a the Barnes center would all be closed this semester, they were forced to find other alternatives such as Thornden and other courts in the area that put them at a greater risk for Covid.
OLMSTEAD: There were this court, Jameson-DeWitt, last semester, so we played there. But then they took down the hoop because people was acting out of hand. And there was this other court, Tecumseh, but there was only one hoop.
WARREN DIXON: Especially at public courts like this where you don’t know who’s vaccinated and who’s not. I fee like if the school wanted it safer they’d let us play in school places. Like with other people that go to our school.
OLMSTEAD: We would come. Locals would come. Other people would come.
DIXON: I think you should just have proof of vaccination that would make the most sense to me. Especially if they wanted to be more conservative about it-
OLMSTEAD: Proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test.
DIXON: Yeah.
MANZELLA: Many students agree with them and, think their should be a guideline in place to play basketball on campus. However, when I called the Barnes Center for more information they declined to comment, stating that opening the hoops is a call that needs to come from the administration and they just don’t have that information yet.
MANZELLA: Hopefully with the intent of next semester being a normal semester, things will get right back on track and Jahvon, Warren, and Peter will get right back on the court.
OLMSTEAD: It’s tiring being the best.
MANZELLA: Sean Manzella, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – While the basketball hoops in Thornden Park were put back up last week, the hoops around Syracuse University remained, closed, de-rimmed or locked to the public. Many students believe that it would be safer to open these courts than force students to seek alternatives and play at public courts.
Warren Dixon, a freshman at Syracuse University, stated that he would feel safer playing on campus court.
“Proof of vaccination or a negative test would be more than enough to let us play together,” Dixson said. “I mean we have to get tested every week already, why not just use that.”
Jahvon Olmstead, friend of Dixon and also a freshman, agreed with this. Olmstead is afraid that by playing at the public courts he is exposing himself to people off campus. He noted that he’s played with people from as far away as Nebraska and Colorado in the past week alone.
While many will suggest for these athletes to just stay home that thought hasn’t crossed their minds. Basketball simply means too much to them. Both Olmstead and Dixon felt lost without basketball.
Dixon, who is from the New York City area, stated, “It’s such a big thing back home that when they took the hoops down the whole neighborhood changed. There really wasn’t anything to do,” Dixon, who is from New York City, said.
Now that the courts have opened up, many are slowly adjusting to playing sports again. Olmstead said he got “fat” over quarantine. While Dixon would not admit anything on camera, he did hint that he’s not in the same shape he used to be.
“Oh it was a rude awakening. I just felt cathartic the past few months and I’m definitely still working through some rust,” Peter Tilmont, a junior at SU, said more candidly.
Tilmont, who grew up around basketball in the Chicago area, was also unable to play due to closed hoops. While he had a hoop at home, his friends didn’t feel safe playing pickup until they got vaccinated.
Now that hoops are opening slowly, and vaccines are becoming more and more readily available, many students are calling for the courts to open on campus. Olmstead and Dixon both mentioned they had thought about start petitions to get the school’s attention.
However, this is a while away. The Barnes Center declined to comment on the matter saying that this would be a call from the administration and there is no telling on when the courts could open.
