COVID-19 threw a curveball to higher education and college athletics during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021academic years. The purpose of this case study was to examine the transitional effects that the COVID-19 pandemic had on Division I Men`s and Women`s basketballstudent-athletes. The primary goal of this study was to provide recommendations that athletic administrators, coaches, and student-athlete support staff members can implement while working with student-athletes through an unprecedented event and transition.Due to the unique nature of COVID-19 and the gap in literature surrounding similar events effecting college athletics and the impact on student-athletes, it was imperative that this topic needed to be researched. Relevant documents were reviewed to provide background context while individual interviews were conducted with ten current Division I basketball student-athletes from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. These interviews provided insights into how the COVID-19 transition influenced the everyday lives of student-athletes. Schlossberg`s Transition Theory was used as the guiding theoretical framework for the study. Schlossberg`s 4 S`s: situation, self, support, and strategies, served as the main themesfor the study. The findings identifiedthat the student-athletes struggled with adapting to COVID-19, including adjusting to life in quarantine with an abundance of free time which traditionally is unusual for this population. Also, COVID-19 removed the student-athletes from their strict student-athletes routines and daily structure, they felt a lack of support from the overall university, and their mental health and overall wellbeing was challenged during this trying time. Recommendations that athletic administrators, coaches, support staff members as well as general university personnel could implement to assure the support of student-athletes during future unanticipated transition. Additional recommendations for future research were also included. Student-athletes are going to go through many anticipated transitions throughout their collegiate years,but it is important to assist especially during any unanticipated transitions like the one they experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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