But while the one-on-one instruction may be helpful for that half-dozen, Nagy wants to make sure his team isn’t put in this position again.
“We’re going to change the way we practice,” he said. “We’re going to divide the team in two and only bring those two halves together for a certain amount of time so we can go 5 on 5 — but then limit that so if someone does get it, you only have to shut down the people in that certain group, not the whole team.
“The guys who haven’t had it — which, for us, is only five — we’ll kind of split them up, so the most we’d have to shut down if someone (new) gets it is three.
“We’re doing everything we can do.”
Nagy still has to wait before he gets his entire squad back, but, barring another setback, everyone will be cleared for the home opener against Marshall on Thursday, Dec. 3, albeit with some restrictions.
Sophomore point guard Trey Calvin, who has been in isolation, will be back again Saturday, while the other five players being quarantined return Tuesday, two days before the first game.
“Trey, because he comes back earlier, will be able to go full (against Marshall). His minutes won’t be limited. But the other five guys, their minutes will be limited,” said Nagy, who isn’t expecting anyone to be in peak condition.
“The guy I’m most concerned about — because we started out turning him up, then shutting him down, then turning him up and then shutting him down again — is Grant Basile,” he said of the sophomore center, who has battled an ankle injury along with the virus since returning to campus in July.
“He just hasn’t been able to get in any kind of good basketball shape, and here we shut him down again. He just has had a tough go of it since he’s been here.”
The Raiders also announced they’ll host Miami on Dec. 5 and visit Bowling Green on Dec. 13 before starting the 20-game Horizon League schedule at Detroit on Dec. 19 and 20. And while they’re still trying to find another game or two, they’ll have to plunge into league action without their usual number of tune-ups.
Wright State fans - now more than ever, the Raiders need your support! Even though we can’t physically come together, you can remain a part of our team & show your Raider pride by joining our inaugural Nutter Center Virtual Sellout presented by @TMobile! https://t.co/wWWbVsfYEG
— Wright State Raiders (@WSURaiders) November 24, 2020
But all teams are in the same situation, of course. And the Raiders have the firepower to handle it better than most.
Nagy, who is in his fifth year at Wright State, might have his best team yet with 6-foot-8 senior Loudon Love, the preseason conference player of the year, and two of the league’s five all-freshman team picks from last season, 6-6 Tanner Holden and the 6-9 Basile.
“We lost some pretty good players,” Nagy said, referring to second-team all-league selection Bill Wampler and third-teamer Cole Gentry. “We had great leadership at the point in Cole, who really shot it well. And Bill could really score.
“We want to make sure we shoot the ball (proficiently). That’s my biggest concern. Will we shoot is as good? But maybe we’ll shoot a better percentage because we’ll shoot less 3′s and throw it in more to Grant and Loudon. We’ll see.”
Nagy said his likely starting lineup this season will be Love, Holden, Calvin, 6-5 junior Jaylon Hall and 6-6 sophomore transfer Tim Finke. The Raiders also have a slew of talented reserves with Basile and junior James Manns inside and redshirt freshman Andre Harris and true freshmen Andrew Welage and Alex Huibregtse on the perimeter.
Nagy is especially high on his collection of wings, saying they have “good size and are good defenders. Last year, Jaylon covered every tough player. Now, we have four guys like that.
“Loudon also is one of the better defenders in the league. He led the league in blocked shots (with 40). Defensively, we should be a ton better.”
The Raiders averaged 80.6 points last season, which was seventh-best nationally. Nagy doesn’t expect them to reach that level again, but since good defense often leads to transition offense, it’s certainly possible.
“Early on, a lot of guys weren’t shooting their normal percentage (in practice), but we started looking at that, and they were taking bad shots, being too quick. The inside players weren’t touching the ball enough,” Nagy said.
“But we went over that, and guys have done a really, really good job being more patient and getting good shots. As a result, their field-goal percentage has gone way up, and they feel better about themselves. It’s helped that everyone has bought into, ‘Let’s get better shots and not worry about who’s GETTING the shots.’”
The Raiders, who went 25-7 last season and claimed their first outright league title, had hoped to reach the NCAA-maximum 27 games, but they lost three when they had to withdraw from a multi-team event hosted by Illinois this week because of Covid-19 issues.
That was especially painful since they would have faced the eighth-ranked Illini on the Big Ten Network on Thanksgiving. The event went on as scheduled with Chicago State taking their place.
The minimum number of games needed for NCAA tourney consideration is 13. That certainly seems attainable for the Raiders, though they can never be too sure since opponents and referees also have to manage the virus.
“Throughout the whole season, our schedule may be a fluid deal,” Nagy said.
“The NCAA writes up stuff. The league writes up stuff. But they’re not written in stone because these things change and information changes, and so we would change. It’s going to be a real interesting year for sure.”
WRIGHT STATE SCHEDULE
Dec. 3 Marshall 7 p.m. (H)
Dec. 5 Miami 4 p.m. (H)
Dec. 13 Bowling Green TBD (A)
Dec. 19 Detroit Mercy TBD (A)
Dec. 20 Detroit Mercy TBD (A)
Dec. 26 Green Bay TBD (H)
Dec. 27 Green Bay TBD (H)
Jan. 1 Oakland TBD (A)
Jan. 2 Oakland TBD (A)
Jan. 8 Youngstown State TBD (H)
Jan. 9 Youngstown State TBD (H)
Jan. 15 Cleveland State TBD (H)
Jan. 16 Cleveland State TBD (H)
Jan. 22 IUPUI noon (A)
Jan. 23 IUPUI noon (A)
Jan. 29 Robert Morris TBD (H)
Jan. 30 Robert Morris TBD (H)
Feb. 5 UIC TBD (A)
Feb. 6 UIC TBD (A)
Feb. 12 Milwaukee TBD (H)
Feb. 13 Milwaukee TBD (H)
Feb. 19 Northern Kentucky TBD (A)
Feb. 20 Northern Kentucky TBD (A)
Additional info will be announced at a later date.
WRIGHT STATE ROSTER
Player Yr Ht Wt PPG
Loudon Love Sr. 6-8 255 15.9
Tanner Holden So. 6-6 191 11.8
Jaylon Hall Jr. 6-5 190 7.8
Grant Basile So. 6-9 240 6.2
James Manns Jr. 6-7 210 5.7
Trey Calvin So. 6-0 165 4.8
Andy Neff Jr. 6-7 215 1.3
T.J. Nagy So. 6-1 175 0.3
Tim Finke So. 6-6 215 3.5#
Andre Harris R-Fr 6-3 190 13.0^
Alex Huibregtse Fr. 6-3 195 24.2^
Andrew Welage Fr. 6-6 180 21.3^
Brandon Noel* Fr. 6-8, 235 18.0^
# 2018-19 average at Grand Canyon Univ.
^High school scoring average
*Injured, out for season
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