Amid campus closure, athletics is set to host three basketball games and a swim meet, leaving many wondering: What are they going to do?
With no time to spare, athletics is being forced to decide what to do, as they do not have heat, and it is difficult to reach the O’Rena due to the partial closure of Pioneer Drive.
Men’s Basketball fifth-year Tuburu “Buru” Naivalurua feels that the main disruption is in the classroom rather than on the court, as classes have been moved online or canceled altogether.
When it comes to housing, most athletes are luckily among those who remain unaffected.
“All of my teammates were part of the lucky few who stay in apartments that still have their heating working,” Naivalurua said.
He believes there is a possibility of the games being moved or rescheduled, but will wait to see if the campus situation will improve before then.
Alex Masnsfeild, a men’s track and field athlete, expressed how the team is still able to do their lifts in the Rec center, but practices are being held off campus as they prepare for the indoor season.
Outside of sports that are currently in season, there are athletes like Josh Francou and Cole Thompson, men’s soccer athletes, who are finding the closures to be difficult in their offseason.
“We can’t do any type of training because the gyms are closed, we can’t maintain,” Francou said.
The swim team is experiencing some stress as their Golden Grizzly Classic is expected to be held in the Oakland University Aquatic Center from Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Saturday, Dec. 6.
There is concern about whether the pool is able to remain heated for the athletes to swim in it, let alone the building, so they don’t get cold and risk getting injured.
As these events grow closer, athletics has yet to make any announcements on whether they will be rescheduled or moved to another facility. Concern over how many factors will affect the games also grows for fans, students, players, and coaches.
“There is definitely some concern for the upcoming games,” Naivalurua said.
The struggle for this week brings a lot of stress to the athletes about what the next move will be.
Once the week is over, the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams are fortunate to have away games for the remainder of December and are able to practice in their facility on West Campus, where heating is not an issue.
They hold hope that when we return in January, the issues will be fixed in time for Women’s Basketball to play Purdue Fort Wayne on Jan 2, 2026, Men’s Basketball to play Robert Morris on Jan. 6, 2026 in the OU Credit Union O’Rena, and the swim team to host Miami and Denison on Jan. 9-10, 2026 in the Oakland University Aquatics Center.
For more information and updates, visit https://goldengrizzlies.com/index.aspx.
