This summer, Last Word on Basketball looks to profile college basketball teams and their journey through a season played during a pandemic. Our previous installment took a look at Cleveland State from the Horizon League. You can also check out prior installments, starting with Loyola (MD). The next program in our series is Vermont basketball. The Catamounts have been led by John Becker for 10 seasons, creating a championship culture.
Becker has numerous accolades to his name. He has been named the America East Coach of the Year five times. He was also named Mid-Major Coach of the Year in 2018. Furthermore, the Vermont program has earned four NCAA Tournament berths and had nine 20-win seasons. The success and streaks seen at Vermont under Becker rivals that of programs like Gonzaga and Kansas. Those kind of expectations didn’t wane even in a pandemic season. I had the chance to talk to Becker about how he and his team overcame all their adversity to still share the America East regular-season title.
The Story of the 2020-21 Vermont Basketball Program
Stopping Before Starting
Navigating the 2020-21 season meant treating COVID almost as if it were a landmine. You didn’t really know when it could cause issues with your program. The expectation by most was that a pause seemed inevitable as everyone worked with the unknown. Becker felt that uncertainty was what weighed on his team the most as they prepared for the season and beyond.
“The uncertainty of everything was the thing that was a distraction all year,” Becker said. “Everyone was feeling anxiety of not wanting to be the person that tested positive and potentially shutting the team down for a couple weeks.”
For Vermont, having to work around positive tests began as soon as the Catamounts were able to get players back last summer.
“We had quite a few stoppages,” stated Becker. “We really didn’t get to train much in the summer despite having the guys being on campus. [After] the first couple of positives, the guys and everyone did a really great job of being disciplined. Come to the gym, do what we need to do, and then go home and basically stay home.”
Becker also noted that his team was having the political scene in the country weighing on them on top of dealing with COVID. However, he praised their sports psychologist, Ari Shapiro-Miller, for helping them cope.
“He did a great job,” Becker said. “He has deep relationships with everyone in our program and was able to guide us through the pandemic. We were really fortunate in that sense.”
Playing the Waiting Game
Vermont didn’t play their first game of the season until December 21. That was almost a month after competition was allowed at the Division I level. The athletics department decided to delay the seasons of the men’s and women’s basketball and hockey teams out of precaution. Becker described what it was like to see other teams playing while waiting for their time to take the floor.
“In some ways you’re looking and thinking, “how are they doing that?”” he said. “Knowing all the work it takes just to get the game in, having to test and travel and all those things. We understood there was nothing we could really do. Our state had basically shut down.”
Becker and Vermont basketball did the best they could to get game ready. This was especially crucial as other America East opponents were getting non-conference opportunities.
“Usually you have non-conference to kind of work through things and face adversity and figure out what you have,” Coach stated. “Even just traveling together and building that camaraderie. I thought it was hard those first couple weekends. It wasn’t until Binghamton that we went out there…and were able to meet as a team in a conference room and watch video together and things like that.”
The Catamounts started the season 3-3, splitting their first three series. Losing that many games in America East play is often unheard of for the program, but Vermont was just warming up while everyone else had played.
“Those first couple of weekends felt like exhibition games,” Becker said.
Pausing Momentum
Vermont swept Binghamton and Maine after that slow start, and Becker felt like his group was finding their groove. Then, another pause hit Vermont hard.
“After that Maine weekend, I think we had 15 people total contract COVID,” said Becker. “Some of them were pretty sick. That’s when I got a little bit more concerned and questioned what we were doing here because you hate to see people get sick. A couple of people lost their sense of taste for three, four, five months, and that’s scary. I felt a lot of responsibility as the leader of this program to keep the 25 people in my program healthy and safe.”
The women’s program was paused during that time as well, and they decided to opt out of the remainder of the season on January 25. Becker said he always kept that option for his group if they felt that was what was best.
“I was constantly communicating and offering that to our players and to the program,” he said. “I let the players lead us in that sense. But, they were committed to going through quarantine and pushing through the season.”
Vermont basketball returned to action on Valentine’s Weekend, sweeping Stony Brook. The following week, the Catamounts squared off with UMBC with the America East regular-season title on the line. The teams ended up splitting the series and ultimately sharing the title.
“It was incredible how the guys were able to perform through everything,” stated Becker. “You feel really proud about winning that regular-season title, which is really hard to do. I also feel that everyone felt we never reached our potential because of all the stop and starts.”
Reflecting on Vermont Basketball
Vermont had over two weeks between their final regular-season game and their first America East Tournament game. The Catamounts would get upset by eventual tournament champion Hartford in their first game, leaving Vermont to finish the season at 10-5. The program didn’t reach their ultimate goal, but Becker couldn’t be prouder of his group for all they had been through.
“I always had an incredible amount of respect for our players,” he said, “but I have a new level of respect for how they battled through the year. [I have] appreciation and respect for everyone in our program for all the sacrifices everyone made to make the season happen.”
Becker also felt his players got a new sense of appreciation for what they were able to do last season given all the challenges.
“Everyone gained an appreciation for being able to be in our program and to have this opportunity,” he stated, “to get out of the house and go do something with people you really care about. There was some appreciation gained for…the opportunity to play basketball here at Vermont.”
However, the championship culture remains despite everything from last season.
“I think everyone is pretty motivated this year,” Becker said. “I think everyone wants to try and be the best version of what we can be, where that was really hard to do last year.”
The Vermont basketball program showed that what they have built under John Becker wasn’t going to pause during a pandemic, no matter how many times the Catamounts had to last season. Expect Becker and his squad to be right back at the top of the America East in 2021-22.
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