It seems that the Corona virus pandemic is wreaking more havoc on the University of Illinois campus than just the sporting world.

In a normal academic year, this week would be Spring Break on campus. Students clear out for destinations unknown in hopes of getting some fun in warm weather climates with friends to relieve stress and gear up for the final two months of the semester.

However, this year the scene on campus is much different. With the spring sports seasons cancelled for the remainder of the semester, classroom instruction has gone from in-person to strictly online and the students have been advised to move out of their university housing and head for their hometowns. While at the same time, university personnel have been asked to work at home if and whenever possible. All this due to COVID-19 and its far-reaching effects.

The new buzzword, social distancing, is making campus a desolate place right now.

The spring sports, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, track and field, and the golf teams, all saw their seasons come to a grinding halt as the NCAA cancelled competitions for the rest of the academic year.

Dan Hartleb’s Illini baseball team was getting ready to head south to Carbondale to play a game the next day and Hartleb himself was already in the area watching his son, who plays for John A. Logan Community College, play baseball. Hartleb knew that when the Big Ten cancelled their basketball tournament, followed by the other power five conferences soon after, that it was just a matter of time before his team’s season would meet a similar fate.

Hartleb is behind the idea of student-athletes getting an extra year of eligibility as a result of this predicament but knows that some of the seniors are entertaining the idea of beginning their professional careers and may not exercise that option.

“I’ll have a talk with all of them about it, but ultimately, it will be their decision on whether or not they wish to return,” Hartleb said.

Pitchers Ty Weber and Garrett Acton, two players that were poised for good seasons in their final year, both saw the possible end to the season once other conferences were making the decisions to cancel their respective seasons. Acton, who set the career saves record last season, doesn’t know if he will be back next season, citing that he needs to have some conversations with coaches before making the final decision.

Tyra Perry’s Illinois softball team was slated to host the 2020 Big Ten Tournament this year, but due to the cancellation of the season, that won’t happen now. Perry’s team had just finished playing a game at a neutral site against Missouri when they heard the news about things starting to be cancelled. Perry decided to hold a team meeting when they arrived back at campus and since several of the assistant coaches have dogs, they brought them to the meeting to aid in support of what was a difficult message to convey to her players.

Senior Maddie Adams, who most likely played her last game as an Illini, says that it has been hard the past week dealing with all this uncertainty, but knows that whatever decision that she ends up making will be the best one in the end.

Mike Small, the Illinois men’s golf coach, has had the most success of any coach at the school over the past few years, and this season was shaping up to be no different. Small learned of the cancellation as he and his team were planning on embarking on their spring trip. Small said that most of his team went back home, apart from his two international players, who remain on campus for the time being.

“This is uncharted waters for us, and it is certainly something that I’ve never been through before. We are taking care of our two international guys right now because that’s what we do, but some of our other guys will have decisions to make if the NCAA gives the seniors another year of eligibility,” Small said.

One of those seniors, Michael Feagles, is unsure of what his plans are. He knows that he has unfinished business to attend to but would also like to embark on his professional career as well.

Women’s golf coach Renee Slone is in a similar predicament as her male counterpart Small and talked to her team at the facility on campus once the news broke about the cancellation of their season. They are trying to make the best of the situation at hand, and Slone felt that her team was getting back on track to compete in the NCAA championships. As the men have done, her team has departed for their respective homes, including senior Trystin Nowlin, who, like many of the other athletes in the same situation, is not sure what the immediate future holds.

“The transition has felt very odd of not being team-oriented. I’ve gone out and played some since being back home and am working on certain aspects of my game. Working on the mental aspects of the game will make a huge difference once the ban Is over and things get back to normal,” Nowlin said.

Brad Dancer, the men’s tennis coach, is in a unique position as his team was halfway through the season, having played some of their season in the fall. Unlike many of the other spring sports, athletes that play tennis can enter events during the season, so some of the guys have been practicing. In terms of moving forward, they are waiting on what the university administration suggests is the best course of action. With Atkins Tennis Center currently closed, there is no way for anyone that is still in town to practice at the facility, but with most of the team spread out over the country, Dancer hopes that the team still can practice wherever they may currently be.

One of the players still on campus is Aleks Kovacevic, who has been dealing with an injury as well as being sick. Not wanting to take anything for granted with the Corona virus in full bloom, Kovacevic has been pretty much confined to his apartment. Still, with everything shut down for the moment, he plans on driving back to Florida with his dad and then practicing while he still can once he feels better.

Women’s tennis coach Evan Clark is in a unique position of having no seniors on his current roster, but still thinks that his team was starting to play well when the season was unexpectedly cut short.

“We have no eligibility issues with any of our kids since they all were planning on being back, and with our last match a week ago Sunday (a 4-1 win against Purdue), we felt that we are starting to really gel as a team,” Clark said.