Every night during this women’s college basketball season, Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller and his staff will sit in their respective homes, and turn on their televisions, laptops and phones to scout players for the 2021 WNBA Draft.

That’s the only sure thing about the Sun’s scouting process during a worldwide pandemic.

The coronavirus has caused complications and chaos for WNBA front offices just as it has for everyone. And as crazy as it might sound, it’s almost a good thing Connecticut does not have a first-round pick because all the uncertainty will spare it from all the hand-wringing and headaches of narrowing down its choices.

“We’re still going to grind behind the scenes scouting on a nightly and weekly basis,” Miller said, “but the uncertainty of who will come out this year and who won’t, and certainly the COVID protocols and procedures that are currently in place by the WNBA for our protection also limit in-person scouting opportunities. We will all be challenged to do much more scouting remotely.

“The preparation is head-scratching.”

Connecticut traded away its two first-round picks in the 2020 draft as well as its 2021 first-round pick to the Phoenix Mercury last February for veteran forward DeWanna Bonner.

Bonner finished third in the league in scoring (19.7 ppg), tied for sixth in steals (1.68 spg) and 10th in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and was named to the All-WNBA second team.

If the Sun had a first-round pick, well, they couldn’t go watch a player practice.

“We got a directive of protocols and procedures sent to us by the league that mirrors in our understanding a lot of the NBA requirements,” Miller said. “Currently, the coaches and general managers are seeking further clarification and possible adjustments to the guidelines and protocols behind scouting that were just released by the WNBA to us. The area that is pretty universally a disappointment to the coaches around the league is that we can’t attend practices right now.”

Coaches enjoy attending practices because it allows them to watch a player when the fans aren’t watching and the television cameras aren’t on. Coaches can see how coachable a player is, their interaction with teammates, their effort and their routines. They can also speak to a player’s coaches while at practice.

“Obviously, there are a lot of practices — because of either state guidelines, city guidelines, or university guidelines — that we aren’t permitted to attend practices because of those guidelines,” Miller said. “But even if colleges welcomed us to be able to attend a practice, socially distanced way up in the stands, currently as we talk (Wednesday), we are unable to attend practices, which would include, in our belief, the coaches’ belief, shootarounds on the day of the game. That’s technically a practice.

“That is a disappointment for us because there is a belief that if practices were able to be attended that it would be a safer opportunity for us WNBA coaches to attend than to a game that is open to the general public also.”

The obstacles go much further than that for WNBA front offices. They can only attend games if they’re open to the public, or, if it’s not open to the general public, the event operator or college allows all 12 WNBA teams equal access.

“There can’t be a side deal for a particular WNBA team and not others,” Miller said. “We understand that there’s going to be an uneven playing field. Obviously, there’s currently quarantines involved, so you may reside in a state with a quarantine.

“If someone wanted to see UConn play at home on a weekend, if we’re living and staying in Connecticut, we can attend the game if it's open to the general public. But the other teams would have to fly in seven days in advance in order to attend that game. We obviously understand that there’s potentially an unequal opportunity to scout games and we’ve got to be okay with that.”

That unequal opportunity extends internationally as the WNBA teams presently won’t allow teams to travel and scout unless a staffer lives in that country.

“That’s impactful this year because there are a few international eligible players for this draft are projected first-round picks that now teams with first-round picks cannot travel internationally to see those players,” Miller said. “But you have (Chicago Sky head coach and general manager) James Wade who is overseas, and you have Walt (Hopkins, the head coach of New York), who is the new German national team (coach).”

Wade lives in France and was formerly an assistant coach for Russian superpower UMMC Ekaterinburg, which currently features the likes of Sun post Jonquel Jones, Brenna Stewart of the Seattle Storm, 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman of the Washington Mystics, and Chicago guards Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot.

“So if they are already in a foreign country,” Miller continued, “they are permitted to scout in the foreign country where they’re located.”

The biggest quandary of the scouting process is that there’s no telling which college players will be in the draft — the NCAA granted an extra year of competition for all Division I and II fall and winter athletes and all Division III athletes.

There’s a chance, then, that a senior could decide to stay in school an extra year rather than going straight to the draft.

“As long as the college teams are willing to invite a senior back, seniors around the country could take advantage of an additional year,” Miller said. “One of the hardest parts of scouting right now is you don’t know is going to declare and come out, and who’s going to take advantage of this pandemic opportunity and rule that they can return to college for an additional year.

“In recent years we’ve had non-traditional seniors who were either be old enough to declare and come out early, or have earned their degree despite having eligibility left, so that’s also triggered them the opportunity to come out early. There’s, that, too. While people could go back and (this) year not count, it’s been a trend in recent years that we always have the early entry people. Who will that be this year because there’s some intriguing ones if they come out early?”

n.griffen@theday.com