To our #BraveNation student-athletes,

There's a silver lining, life's not fair, time will give you perspective, "my career ended in injury and it's a similar feeling," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah….  

A good chunk of what you are hearing is somewhat true, but I know as well as you do that now is not the time to hear it.

You are angry, disappointed, shocked, scared, empathetic….and you have every right to be all those things. I promise you that your coaches feel very similarly. All of these emotions are normal and you should give yourself time to feel them and process them. (Feeling is different than venting so make sure to protect your personal brand on social media, be constructive in your comments). You know we are here to assist and that our resources on-campus can help you understand exactly how you feel about all of the emotions and issues currently swirling around you.

To our seniors who have just lost out on a last chance in the black and gold, I wish that I had answers for you right now. The best advice I have for you is that this situation is continuing to evolve. You've probably heard the saying, "things are never as good or as bad as they first seem." With time, data, and decisions ahead, I hope that the NCAA can arrive at a solution that is best for all parties. Many administrators across the country feel as I do that if the decision is for the public good then we should see some legislative relief to give you options on what your future eligibility COULD look like. On March 12, the NCAA Board of Governors issued a resolution that is summarized below:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the NCAA Board of Governors encourages conferences and institutions to make decisions and take action in the best interest of their student-athletes and communities. In addition, the NCAA Board of Governors directs Divisions I, II and III to enact modifications, changes, or waivers to legislation and rules where appropriate to provide necessary relief due to regulations and policies impacted by COVID-19.

This, to me, is intentionally vague.  Leaders, nationally, know how detrimental the decision to cancel or suspend a season is, and they are giving time and flexibility for the NCAA legislative process to work out a middle ground.  Say prayers that we can find a way forward that will give you and your teams options.

We win (and you did a lot of that this year), or we learn…I'm sure you've heard coaches say that.  So what do we learn from this situation?  

• First and foremost, how much your coaches and university care about you. Your safety and the safety of the public led all priorities in how to move forward, and when it comes to your health, everyone erred on the side of caution.
• As a leader, you need to always try to make decisions based on data. Remove as much emotion and fear as you can to make the best choices for your organization.  Over the past few days, we've seen leaders around the country, myself included, err on the side of caution without good data; choosing purely to focus on the decisions of our peers and fearing being the only institution not to take preventative steps. (these are the dangers present to us as a society when people on both sides of an issue do not trust the information coming to us from the news media - - but that is a leadership conversation for another day) 
• You should take ownership and accountability of your education and your daily regiment .  Even if we are told that we will not conduct activities; now is the time for all that discipline and training to shine through.  You should still train your mind and body daily. This is a snapshot of the life training we have been working on.  Without a coach or teammate to push you, have you developed the skillset to be self-disciplined and continue to improve yourself?
• Show your grandparents how much you care, you'll do them a favor by keeping your super strong immune system at a good social distance from them.  The best data we have now shows that COVID-19 is very dangerous when contracted by older age groups.

I can't thank all of you enough for your commitment and excellence you have brought to everything we did this year. I still hold out hope that there is a path forward for us this semester but, if not, we'll tackle that together as #BraveNation. Please make sure to only reference information from the official UNC Pembroke outlets www.uncp.edu and www.uncpbraves.com.