As the pandemic of COVID-19, commonly referred to as Coronavirus, takes center stage on America's hardwoods, offseason sports such as football continue to monitor from a distance, seemingly unfazed by comparison. But make no mistake about it, the ripple effect is taking shape and not even Minnesota will be immune to its potential recruiting impact.

Yesterday, the Big Ten had this announcement:

"The Big Ten Conference announced today that in addition to the Men’s Basketball Tournament it will be canceling all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year, and participation in all NCAA tournaments and competitions. In addition, the Conference has announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.



The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.



The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus."

That was followed by this announcement from Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle

"We agree with the Big Ten's decision to cancel all athletic competition through the end of the school year.

We also support the conference's decision to suspend all on-campus and off-campus recruiting efforts for the foreseeable future.

At this time, we are working on arranging transportation for our teams who are competing out of state to return to Minneapolis.

We will provide all necessary resources for our student-athletes, coaches and staff during this difficult time. Our main priority is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor the COVID-19 virus."

Spring Football

No way around it that COVID-19's arrival in the US isn't good timing for a Gopher Football program that just won 11 games for the first time in over 100 years. Excitement is at an all-time high and now after three practices, things are suspended indefinitely through the end of the month at least.

- Minnesota's hired a new offensive coordinator in Mike Sanford that was trying to get acclimated to a new set of players and install a tweaked offensive system. That's now on hold.

- Joe Rossi is trying to replace seven starters on defense and figure out who can step up, and who needs more time. 20% of the way through spring ball, those evaluations are now on hold.

Spring Football Recruiting

Maybe the area this virus impacts the most is recruiting, as Minnesota and the rest of the Big Ten are now "moratorium" with on-and-off campus recruiting. Meaning the Gophers can't host any recruits and their coaches can't hit the road.

You go one year back to Spring 2019, and Fleck and his staff made some hay recruiting. They were able to grab 2021 four-star quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, four-star running back Ky Thomas and in-state linebacker Cody Lindenberg.

Just in the last week before things escalated in the US with COVID-19, the Minnesota staff hosted four-star wide receiver Sam Jackson, 2022 stud Reggie Fluermia and Michigan WR Jace Williams who holds multiple Big Ten offers. That's pretty good for one week, but they had a host of other recruits scheduled to come by in the next few weeks.

- 2022 tight end Andre Dollar (holds SEC, Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten offers including Minnesota) was set to visit on Monday, while two Texas players with Gopher offers in safety Isaiah Nwokobia and wide receiver Roderick Daniels were set to come in on Wednesday.

Now that's not happening.

- Minnesota was expected to host a big Junior Day on March 21st, with names such as the #56 overall player in the country in Omaha's Avante Dickerson, four-star linebacker Jamari Buddin, top Midwest offensive linemen Ethan Boyd and Marcus Mbow, plus other names like Tyson Watson, Willie Shaw, Quillen Howze, Josh Bryant and Nate Pabst among many others.

- Other names that had set visit dates to Minnesota before April 15th with Gopher offers were Illinois DT Jeremiah Pittman, Ohio DB Tamarion Crumpley, Illinois OT Cameron James, plus other names like Anthony Tyus III and Jaden Mangham.

So...what now?

We wait.

I've messaged with multiple members of the Gopher Football staff and they're waiting to see what's next like everyone else.

Most of the staff is gone on spring break and recharging their batteries, but they're set to return to Minnesota tomorrow, or at least that was the plan. Some of the staff is currently out of the country, but even when the staff gets back together, what now?

Spring practices have been suspended indefinitely, so what does this mean for the Gopher players who are supposed to come back to campus tomorrow?

With no on-or-off campus recruiting for the foreseeable future, how does PJ Fleck and staff get creative with maintaining and building relationships?

All questions that'll certainly be answered in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to GopherIllustrated.