Montville — It was an otherwise uninspiring weekday afternoon, the kind whose banality belied the opportunity awaiting. Imagine: a chance to sit for two hours and listen as Jere Quinn narrates basketball. It's like Hemingway teaching composition.

And so here on the court that bears his name at St. Thomas More, there is Quinn in season No. 43 by the shores of Gardner Lake. The banners on the wall of the newly-lit gym tell the history: the championships and the nearly 1,100 wins. The photos in his office depict the gaggles of kids who have left T-More smarter and savvier for college basketball.

Season No. 43 sure felt like all the other ones. Humor, earnestness, sarcasm and insight continue to define this man previously nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, whose fastball is still mid-90s. And yet season No. 43, the only one Jere Quinn has ever coached in a pandemic, will challenge him as no other.

He comes over to the bleachers to chat. The conversation ping-pongs its way finally to one of his players, a scholarship waiting to happen. Then Jere Quinn says, "he should take the first one he's offered."

You make a mental note. Whoa. Hundreds of college coaches make their way to 45 Cottage Rd. during basketball season. And suddenly, The Basketball Whisperer wants this kid to grab the first thing he gets?

"It's crazy this year. An unfortunate thing to say, really," Quinn said later. "Historically at this time, the second week of November, probably 150 schools have showed up on campus to look at our kids. We've had none. With COVID, Division 1 and 2 coaches are not allowed to recruit. Scholarship opportunities are minimal. We livestream our practices."

The NCAA has decided that this year doesn't count in college basketball. Translation: Everyone gets another year of eligibility. It leaves high school seniors and postgraduates, the very business of St. Thomas More, in the abyss.

Matt Quinn, the head of school (and Jere's oldest child) said, "In every sport, we've been telling the kids they're competing against last year's seniors who are freshmen now, the seniors wanting to stay and keep playing and this year's class. It's like competing against three classes for a spot on the roster."

T-More kids have the advantage of Quinn's 43 years' worth of contacts inside a program with irreproachable credentials. They'll go somewhere. But as Ringo once sang: It don't come easy.

"We'll work hard to make sure our kids get offers," Jere Quinn said. "When you've been here as long as I have, you know a lot of people. But I think there's kids throughout the country who are scholarship-level athletes who won't get them."

The NCAA, mostly mum on the plight of the Class of 2021, has offered schools the chance to add more scholarships. Theoretically, it means a chance to recruit and expand rosters in places where kids opt to stay. Practically, more scholarships translate into that age-old conundrum: Who's gonna pay?

"All schools have lost money," Jere Quinn said. "Now to say, 'can you give me three more basketball scholarships and 20 for football?' I haven't heard too many schools who are going to do that. Someone has to pick up that tab. The NCAA is giving college kids the extra year. Are they ready to consider giving high school kids and postgrads another year?"

And then Jere Quinn bypassed the appetizer and got right to the entrée. If his 43 years count for anything, he'd like to be heard here. More likely, he'd like the NCAA to be heard. Because in Quinn's world, there's an epidemic amid a pandemic: Where do these kids go?

"I'd like the NCAA to say something about their plans for high school kids," he said. "They've always come out and stated the rules as to how to gain admission into their institutions. Now they've mitigated the rules in regard to SATs and GPAs. They're more generous allowing kids the opportunities to play. But it would be nice if they gave us the directive that these kids can wait a year or two. They need to address the graduating senior and the postgraduate kid.

"The elite players are fine," Quinn said. "But it's the really good players who are frustrated. There's anxiety. They're offered no directives about their options. Colleges can't come look at them play. You can't play games. Even if we could play a league game, the NCAA says no D-1 (coaches) are allowed out till January. And if that actually happens in January, I'll be amazed."

The Chancellors are practicing and scrimmaging. Not like the not-so-old days (like last year) when they'd be all over New England.

"Our schedule is we don't have one," Jere Quinn said. "Right now, we're staying in Connecticut. We scrimmage rather than play games and we do it just for video. (The NEPSAC) will reconvene in January and see if there are more options. One thing we can do is play all year. Basketball in the spring is great, but just because we can play, does that mean there will be more opportunities for kids? That's a difficult promise."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro