As Southeastern Conference athletic directors gathered Monday in Birmingham, Ala., to discuss if and how sports can be staged in the fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one of their own could claim personal experience with the disease.
Florida AD Scott Stricklin revealed the very next day that he has recovered from COVID-19 after testing positive in June.
According to the Naples Daily News, Stricklin said during a Tuesday Zoom conference with reporters that he had contracted the coronavirus and had mild symptoms for a few days.
“Fortunately, I had mild symptoms and was able in a couple of days to kind of go back to normal,” Stricklin said. “I thought I was being careful, but obviously this is a highly transmissible disease. So, I do think it speaks to the importance of all of us doing our part and wearing the masks and physical distancing and all that stuff. Hopefully, we can help keep others safe during this process by doing our part."
As of Tuesday, 29 Florida student-athletes had tested positive.
SEC commissioner Mark Sankey said the conference would wait to see how the pandemic progresses through the end of July before making a decision on whether to adjust the 2020-21 football season. However, the SEC announced Tuesday that it will postpone the start of competition in soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country through at least Aug. 31. In a release, the SEC said the decision “will provide additional time to prepare for the safe return of competition on an adjusted timeline,” as reported by the El Dorado News-Times in Arkansas.
Stricklin said he wasn't concerned about his own case, but regretted not mitigating the risk.
"My symptoms were mild, so I never really had any anxiety," he said. "I was kind of mad at myself that I had put myself in that situation. My family's fine."
