Why Villanova bans its players from using smartphones
When it comes to the quest for back-to-back NCAA tournament titles, the Villanova men’s basketball team has no room for distractions – that includes cell phones.
The night before every tournament game at around 10, a coach or staff member will come around to each of the players’ hotel rooms and take their laptops, tablets, iPads and cellphones.
Head coach Jay Wright has been doing this technology roundup for years. He told the Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t remember when he started doing it, but it was well before smartphones hit the market.
“They’re kids,” he said. “They don’t know how to focus.”
Studies back up Wright’s rationale. According to a 2011 poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 20 percent of people between the ages of 19 and 29 will wake up to an email, text or phone call a few times per week.
Villanova can’t take a chance on tired players. After a cellphone-less night’s sleep, the players can retrieve their phones as soon as their eyes open the next morning. But they won’t have their phones for long. As soon as they enter the locker room before games, they will have to surrender them again.
It wasn’t always easy to get players to hand over their phones. At one point, a player tried to hand over a decoy. But Wright quickly put a stop to that.
And with no Instagram posts to scroll through, tweets to favorite or Snapchats to send, players are forced to sleep – something that is especially important for athletes.
No. 1 Villanova will face Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CBS.
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