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While there are no practices being held or games being played, the grind hasn’t stopped for athletes who are chasing the dream of playing college sports.

Austin junior Teyghan Hovland has stayed busy rehabilitating his broken foot and will soon be getting back to baseball workouts. Grand Meadow junior Colt Landers has spent a good chunk of his time in his family shed shooting buckets and lifting weights.

Both athletes have aspirations and opportunities to play at the college level and both are currently grounded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Landers was supposed to be playing AAU basketball for the Minnesota Lightning right now, but that season has been pushed back to June at the earliest. Landers has heard from various schools at the Division II level and lower, but playing against tough competition at the AAU level could be the key to him receiving a scholarship offer.

“I think it’s important. It’s good to push yourself and try to play bigger and stronger kids,” Landers said. “You don’t always get that in smaller schools. You need the exposure for that, but sometimes you can get noticed by word of mouth. I think it’s important to get your name out there if you can.”

Landers is GM’s all-time leading scorer and averaged 20.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season for the Superlarks. He’s trying to stay positive and self-motivated with his workouts, but it is difficult for Landers, and other athletes, to get pumped up when there is no competition.

“It’s almost hard to stay motivated, because you don’t know when you’re going to play next,” Landers said. “Before when you’re lifting, you’re lifting for something in sight, but now you don’t know what’s in sight. Some days I go and lift and I don’t feel the same. It’s different, but you’ve got to keep your head up. It’s kind of a blessing in disguise, because I’m fortunate enough to have (a place to workout and shoot).”

Austin grad and assistant boys basketball coach Jamaal Gibson is well aware of the struggle for players like Landers to have to wait on their dreams. Gibson coached the Minnesota Lightning 14U team last year and he was going to coach the 15U team this year. He said he feels like players like Austin junior Okey Okey, who would have more of a chance to shine in the AAU circuit.

“I can’t even imagine what the kids are going through. They’re usually in the gym all summer long,” Gibson said. “There’s a lot of them that it hurts. You look at Okey Okey, who wants to play college basketball. He didn’t get into the varsity program until last year, but in AAU he can show off things he can do like how he can handle the ball a little more. It hurts him (no to play). College coaches won’t get to see how good of a basketball player he is outside of our program. I feel bad for guys like him.”

Gibson said the best thing that basketball prospects can do right now is get in as much dribbling and shooting as possible.

Hovland played football, basketball and baseball for the Packers this year and was a key presence for the Austin baseball team that went to state last spring. Hovland had an ERA of 1.70 last spring and he hit .350 with 20 RBIs.

Hovland would normally be playing AAU basketball and playing for the Packers this spring, but instead he’s spending time rehabilitating a foot injury he suffered during a workout before the outbreak. Hovland has heard from schools of various sizes about playing baseball in college, but he hasn’t received a major offer yet.

“This spring would’ve been a huge opportunity for me and a bunch of the other guys on the team who want to play college baseball. It sucks that we don’t get to play, but hopefully we can have some of our summer ball stuff,” Hovland said. “I’m just going to go out there and play ball and have fun. When the offers come, they’ll come and I’ll be happy. But at the end of the day, I’m always trying to get better.”

Hovland hasn’t ruled out playing basketball in college, but right now he’s leaning towards baseball. He’s spending his down time watching YouTube videos and reading books about baseball.

It’s been over a month since Hovland played in an actual game of any kind, which is rare for any three-sport athletes these days. Hovland’s last contest was when the Packer boys basketball team beat Byron 64-45 on March 7, before having their season ended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That week still bothers Hovland and the other Packers, but he’s happy that he at least has another year ahead of him as a Packer.

“It stung and it still stings and I’ll keep that in the back of my mind for next year,” Hovland said. “But you’ve got to move on, you can’t sulk in it.”