ATLANTA – After more than four months away from campus, the Georgia State men's basketball team will return this weekend to begin conditioning and individual workouts.

Coming off a 19-win season and what could have been another postseason appearance, the Panthers have been limited to Zoom calls, text messages, and virtual communication since school closed before spring break on March 13.

Now it will be time for second year head coach Rob Lanier and his staff to start preparing for could be the most unique year in the history of the sport.

"Conditioning will be first and we will be deliberate," Lanier said. "We will approach it in phases and the first phase will center exclusively on weight training and conditioning. Then we will incorporate some skill work and before the semester starts, we'd like to revisit some of our key concepts and introduce a couple of new things.

"This is absolutely the longest I've ever been away from a team. I would assume that is true for most coaches. I just look forward to seeing everyone honestly. The uncertainty we are all experiencing forces you to temper your expectations on what lies ahead. So, we want to keep it simple. Take the time we have together and try to enjoy it."

Although the team has met for a Zoom call every Wednesday to discuss topics ranging from basketball, social issues, registering to vote, and the coronavirus, seeing someone virtually is a lot different than being in person.

"We saw that each player took pride in being responsible for their education. So, the expectation is they will all continue to improve. Like most young men, they will be eager to get back to work. We will try to channel that enthusiasm deliberately and avoid trying to overcompensate for time lost.

"When it comes to our system, we expect some carryover and leadership to develop from last year. We have some guys that I trust competitively. Now they have to take the next step as players and as teammates. Our newcomers should be able to feed off of that experience."

Normally by this time of the summer, the coaching staff would be finishing workouts with the players and have just about wrapped up summer recruiting. Now, workouts are just beginning and going out on the road recruiting is still not permissible for at least another month per NCAA mandates.

"We've been fortunate in recruiting. We have limited scholarships due to the tremendous job our assistants have done. So, the inability to travel and evaluate this summer has been softened by the fact that we only have one scholarship remaining for 2021 and we don't intend to use that in the fall. What we would like to have been able to do is get out and evaluate the talent for 2022, especially locally. We generally like to get know prospects and their families before we offer so we have used this time to try to engage with prospects in that class. When we do finally get to see them, we will be doing so with a greater level of personal familiarity."

Work-outs are expected to continue until school gets underway in late August. The 2020-21 schedule is expected to be announced later this summer as opening night of college basketball season is currently set for November 10.