ENMU making the best of lack of play

PORTALES — Only a handful of Lone Star Conference football teams will take part in the upcoming spring season, set to begin in February.

Eastern New Mexico University is not one of them, but fourth-year Greyhounds coach Kelley Lee said his squad is making the best of it.

“Obviously, they’re getting games reps and practices, which is going to be an advantage for them in recruiting,” he said of Angelo State, West Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas-Permian Basin and Midwestern State, who are slated play an abbreviated four-game spring slate.

ENMU, Western New Mexico and Texas A&M-Commerce have opted out.

The two LSC New Mexico schools have been limited by COVID-19 restrictions in place in the state. They can work out 20 hours a week in pods of five, Lee said, but won’t be able to scrimmage for the time being.

It’s possible the Hounds could play WNMU or New Mexico Highlands sometime during the spring, if restrictions are eased.

“The state’s restrictions are far above what the NCAA has put in place,” Lee said. “We could play Western or Highlands, but we’d have to have changes from the public health order.”

On the positive side, Lee expects the Hounds to retain most of their players for the 2021 fall campaign. In addition, the staff has been able to add to the roster through recruiting.

Because of the cancellation of ENMU’s 2020-21 season, he noted the players have been able to devote extra time to academics and posted a team grade point average of around 3.1 for the fall semester.

“We were proud of our team GPA,” he said. “But a lot of these kids came here to play sports, and we want to give them the opportunity to do that.”

Lee said the LSC’s original 2020 schedule will essentially be pushed back to next fall, at least the conference portion of it.

For now, though, it’s just grin and bear it.

“It’s challenging,” Lee said. “We’re just plugging along. We’ve had extra time to practice, and I feel good about our situation.”