Billy Durkin walked slowly to midcourt and laid down his gym bag. He sat beside it and stared into the rolled up bleachers. Still proudly dressed in his
Hinsdale South (Darien, Ill.) basketball jersey, Durkin had hoped to hear 3,000 fans in the sold out gym cheer on the 30-3 Hornets to a section semifinal playoff victory en route a first state championship.
However, 30 minutes earlier, Durkin and his teammates were told the coronavirus pandemic had hit the United State full force and the Hornets' storybook season, like many others to come, was over. Instead of jubilant celebrations and raucous ovations, Durkin heard the stark silence of an empty gym along with his own somber and bittersweet thoughts.
"So many memories," Durkin said. "The fans. The friendships. And just how
far we had come. It was a little overwhelming. It wasn't supposed to end
like that."
That was March 12, 2020.
The vision of Durkin's heartbreaking, solitary reaction was captured on a NFHS video stream and a screenshot shared on social media for all the world to see and sigh. The photo represented what many high school athletes and coaches felt that day, ultimately proving Durkin wasn't so alone after all.
Over the next 365 days, hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and their coaches have shared in that isolation, frustration and void, but ultimately similar numbers have returned from the sidelines and empty gyms to return to play.
Below, we chart a timeline of some of the more important dates and happenings surrounding high school sports and the pandemic.
The shot that went viral: Billy Durkin alone with his thoughts at midcourt after Hinsdale South's season ended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Billy Durkin
March 11, 2020: NBA halts season, prompting sports organizations at all levels to re-evaluate competition going forward.
March 12, 2020: Texas (UIL) suspends state basketball tournament in progress, ultimately cancels.
March 12, 2020: The
Central Plains (Claflin, Kan.) girls basketball team, riding a 136-game win streak, wins quarterfinal game but later learns season is over and career ends for Kansas Player of the Year
Emily Ryan.
March 12, 2020: California cancels state championship games for first time, halting chances of a three-peat for the nationally-ranked boys team from
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth).
March 12, 2020: In Minnesota, MaxPreps girls basketball Player of
the Year
Paige Bueckers also has illustrious career unceremoniously
unplugged one wins shy of a perfect 31-0 season for
Hopkins (Minnetonka).
March 21, 2020: The Jordan Brand Classic, McDonald's All-American Games, Nike Hoop Summit and GEICO Nationals all are canceled. Top-ranked and 25-0
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) misses out on winning a fifth GEICO title in eight years, and with it, a final chance to make case as one of greatest high school boys teams ever.
April 3, 2020: California becomes 10th state to cancel spring season, joining Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Virginia. By the end of the month, all 50 would join.
June 15, 2020: Baseball, softball fans enjoy action as competition begins in Iowa.
July 20, 2020: California announces fall season moved to 2021, one of 15 to eventually do so.
July 21, 2020: Texas announces six-week delay of two largest football divisions, 6A and 5A.
Aug. 1, 2020: Iowa state baseball tournament comes to an end, drawing nearly 30,000 socially-distanced fans at Principal Park in Des Moines over a week of games.
Aug. 11, 2020: High school associations largely align with Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, which announce postponement of football season.
Aug. 13, 2020: Football season kicks off in Utah.
Aug. 14, 2020: Michigan becomes 15th state to move football to 2021.
Aug. 21, 2020: American Fork (Utah) athletic director Jeremy Lewis tells football crowd at halftime to practice social distancing or game would halt. Game finishes without pause.
Sept. 3, 2020: Michigan the first of many to reverse course, moves season back from 2021 to 2020.
Oct. 14, 2020: Alaska is first of five states to cancel football postseason due to rising COVID cases.
Nov. 5, 2020: Alabama and Mississippi become first states to tip off basketball seasons.
Nov. 13-14, 2020: North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming become the first states to hold football state championships.
Nov. 20, 2020: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pauses all football playoffs due to rising COVID-19 cases.
Dec. 18, 2020: California pauses Jan. 8 start date indefinitely.
Jan. 9, 2021: Michigan continues playoffs, finishes one week later.
Jan. 16, 2021: Texas finishes 6A and 5A football playoffs at AT&T Stadium, one of 35 states to complete fall football seasons.
Feb. 13, 2021: Washington is first state to begin 2020 football season in 2021.
Feb. 17, 2021: Nevada OKs sports, but Clark County (Las Vegas) remains sidelined.
Feb. 19, 2021: After three-week negotiation between football coaches and advocacy groups with governor's office, California changes guideline to renew contact outdoor sports.
March 12, 2021: California scheduled to open its 2020-21 football season.
Ziaire Williams drills game-winning shot to send Sierra Canyon into the 2020 California Open Division finals. Two days later, the state championships were canceled due to the pandemic.
File photo by Louis Lopez
