Nutter Center Gym | Photo by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
When the Horizon League announced conference schedules, they also announced that fans will not be allowed at basketball games in the month of December.
The Board of Directors will reevaluate these changes at a later date, but due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus there is concern regarding if fans will be allowed at any point during the season.
Wright State students
Wright State University (WSU) has led the Horizon League in attendance every year since Head Coach Scott Nagy has arrived.
“Disappointed, one of the best parts about the game is the sense of community that is built among the students who attend throughout the season. I look forward to returning to the stands when it is safe to do so,” said WSU student Ivan Mallett.
Students are remaining optimistic even though there is so much uncertainty surrounding attendance at the games.
“While I doubt it’s getting better, it’s only through December for now, so we might be able to later…but nothing is going to beat the Nut House atmosphere,” said WSU student Blake Keucher.
How this affects the team
This will have a major impact on home and away games. For road games, they won’t experience playing in front of the visiting crowd and the tough environments they normally had to deal with.
“There is an advantage to being seen as the villain on the road. At the same time, it will be hard to bring our own energy all the time since none of us have had to play in front of no fans in a really long time,” said starting Center Loudon Love.
For home games, WSU won’t have their fans cheering them on and bringing that energy every game.
“It will be very different because we have a strong crowd and good attendance so we will definitely sense the change. Our student section brings a lot of energy and they will be missed,” said Love.
This will force the team to bring their own energy to every game, and they won’t be able to feed off of the energy from the crowd.
“We take pride in playing well in front of our fans who support us. We know they will still be watching but we will certainly miss them not being in the arena,” said Nagy.
