Camara has learned how to "make do"

As members of Georgia’s basketball team begin matriculating back to campus for voluntary workouts, sophomore Toumani Camara said he has no concerns.

Along with women’s basketball, cross country, and soccer, a number of players from head coach Tom Crean’s squad are starting to get settled in, prior to on-campus workouts set on begin Aug. 1.

Although some have expressed concerns surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Camara said he won’t be worried once he ultimately arrives.

“I don’t think so. I think Georgia is doing a great job right now with how they’re taking care of us and reminding us how we need to practice social distancing,” said Camara, who is currently still in Miami. “They give us masks, everything; at least that’s what I’ve heard from my teammates who are already there. I don’t think there’s any worries. I think everything is going well, we just have to go with the flow.”

Like college athletes everywhere, Camara and the rest of Georgia’s basketball team has been “going with the flow” ever since the season came to an abrupt end in the SEC tournament after beating Ole Miss in the opening round of the conference tournament.

Camara said the passing days and months that have been wrought with their own unique set of challenges.

“It’s new for everybody. It’s something we’re not used to,” Camara said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people scared about it but at the end of the day, we have a job to get done, make sure we stay in shape. We’ve got to do it no matter the risks we have to take, but at the same time focus on being healthy and make sure we’re not exposing ourselves too much.”

Camara said he’s been doing his part.

“Make sure I have my mask on, that’s the most important thing,” he said. “When I go out, always have it on. Make sure I take a lot of vitamins, make sure I’m working out, sweat it out, just make sure I take care of my body, drink a lot of water and stay away from people as much as I can.”

An average day for the 6-foot-8 native of Belgium typically starts at 7:30 in the morning, which is when he’ll go shoot, followed by lifting and more conditioning before repeating the process, albeit with a few variants, in the afternoon.

Much of the work he’s able to get in comes as the result of workouts implemented by team strength and conditioning coach Sean Hayes.

“It’s crazy how much you don’t realize you can do with nothing,” Camara said. “He gave us like two sets of bends we can do, crazy how many different things you can do with that, and that helped me a lot.”

In an earlier interview with reporters, Hayes spoke about some of the creative avenues he’s been working on with players during their time away from school.

“Everybody tried to be creative. It was actually more of what else can you send me, what else can we do. I had guys Facetime me initially, saying something like, ‘Hey, I’m at a hill, can you text me a workout?' or "Hey, I’m at a turf, can you text me a workout,’” Hayes said. “Justin (Kier) sent a text, saying, 'Hey, I’m flipping a tire, what else can I do?' You just had to be creative, and that was the biggest thing.”

Hayes said he also filmed between 35 and 40 videos to send the players so they’d have something different to do every day.

“I wanted to show the guys that I was doing the workouts, too, and if I was doing them at 45, then they could do it, too,” Hayes said.

Camara said Hayes’ assistance has helped the team manage what has been a difficult time.

“Life is so different. Some things you should get used to. I hope it changes. In the beginning it was hard to find gyms, especially down here in Florida,” he said. “Everything was closed at first and they really just started to open up three weeks ago and now they’re talking about closing them back up again.

"It’s a very complicated situation; it’s very annoying, but we’ll find a way to make do.”