DePaul women making playing basketball in masks look easy

I went for a run on Sunday in a forest preserve.

What would it be like, I thought, if I ran while wearing a COVID face mask?

Definitely not easy. Or fun.

Getting air deep into the lungs while running is challenging enough. Adding a face mask to the equation? Eek!

But that's exactly what the DePaul women's basketball team is doing this season.

The Blue Demons, who pride themselves on an up-tempo style of play in which they run and run some more all over the floor, are wearing masks while playing.

The NCAA doesn't require it. And neither does the Big East Conference.

So far, opponents have not worn masks while they've played against DePaul.

But the No. 20 Blue Demons (1-1 heading into Friday's tilt against No. 5 Louisville) are following the advice of the school's medical staff. In addition to social distancing on the bench, not playing in front of fans and keeping their social circles extremely small off the court, they've been wearing masks at every practice since August. By now, they are rather used to them, in spite of their high-octane style of play.

At first, "mask-ball" was not easy at DePaul. And I don't doubt it for a minute.

I played basketball at Northwestern. Just as I think wearing a mask while on a run now in my 40s would be tough, I think wearing a mask in my 20s while playing a Division I game would be just as tough.

I also worried for my daughter Kelsey, who is a senior basketball player at Warren Township High School. Before the Illinois High School Association basketball season got postponed, one of the conditions of playing was players would have to wear masks, as they did during their contact days for practices in the fall.

Kelsey, like many of her teammates, disliked "mask-ball" and found wearing the mask difficult and constrictive. She used to complain that her mask would practically disintegrate because of all the sweat and moisture on her face. But breathing well was her biggest challenge.

I am in awe the DePaul women have found a way to adjust so seamlessly to this new requirement, and still average 109.5 points a game while full-court pressing from nearly start to finish.

I attended both of their first two games, and the Blue Demons seemed fast and in shape and engaged, the complete opposite of being fatigued and struggling for air.

"The first week, I complained every day," DePaul senior guard Deja Church told The Associated Press of the masks. "But now, it's normal as we wear (the masks) every day in practice. It's kind of normal now. I don't like it, but whatever keeps us and the coaches and everyone safe is what matters most."

The Creighton women are the only other Division I college basketball players who wear masks while playing games. They were given a choice to wear them or not and elected to wear them.

Other teams across the country don't see wearing masks while playing games as necessary.

Dawn Staley, head coach of South Carolina, the No. 1 women's team in the country, is not a fan.

"With the testing we're doing, with what we're doing at home where we get tested three times a week, no, I'm not a big advocate of wearing a mask for games," she said.

So, what do you think? Exercising in masks? Basketball in masks? Could you do it? Is it necessary?

• Twitter: @babcockmcgraw