A year after COVID-19 interrupted the college basketball postseason, the pandemic continues to disrupt the sport, with three major programs forced to abandon their conference tournaments because of positive coronavirus tests.
Virginia’s number 16 – the most recent national champion – and 11th Kansas were kicked out of their tournament semifinals on Friday, the day after Duke also dropped out, ending a disappointing season for coach Mike Krzyzewski’s historic program.
There is no guarantee that Kansas or Virginia will return to the NCAA Tournament, potentially depriving the sport’s annual showcase of two title contenders, as well as the five-time national champion Blue Devils, who would hardly enter the field this year.
Although the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12 tournaments continued without the schools affected by the virus, Friday’s developments were a frightening reminder of March 12, 2020, when both leagues ended their tournaments while the teams were warming up for the first full day of games. That day ended up being the end of the college basketball season.
The ACC announced the positive test and subsequent contact and quarantine screening on the Virginia program less than 12 hours before the Cavaliers played against Georgia Tech in the first of the two games in the semifinal. The Yellow Jackets advanced to the finals, where they await the winner of the confrontation between North Carolina and Florida.
Hours later, Kansas announced its withdrawal of the Big 12 Tournament, leading to the cancellation of their semifinal clash with No. 13 Texas. The Longhorns will play No. 2 Baylor or No. 12 Oklahoma State for the title. The Jayhawks said in a statement that they will continue to prepare for the NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday.
Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett described the test results as a “punch to the stomach”.
“I am suffering for our players, especially our veterans,” said Bennett in a statement. “I told our boys that they have every reason to be disappointed, but it is still very important how they decide to react. We are running out of options to participate in the NCAA Tournament. “
Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said in the statement that the school was “in communication with the appropriate officials regarding our participation” in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke withdrew from the ACC tournament and ended his season in the middle of his own positive test before facing the Seminoles of 15th place in the quarterfinals.
The Jayhawks learned earlier this week that they would be without the David McCormack center and the backforward Tristan Enaruna due to the COVID-19 protocols. They won Oklahoma No. 25 69-62 in the quarterfinals without them, and spent the entire season without an outbreak that forced cancellation or postponement.
“Obviously, we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they cannot continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” said coach Bill Self in a statement. “Although we are fortunate enough to prevent this over the course of the season, there are daily risks with this virus that all participants are trying to avoid.
“We followed the daily tests and the additional protocols that were set up for us, unfortunately, we caught a bad stop at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in a probably unique way for next week’s NCAA Tournament. “
NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn declined to comment on Friday about the cancellations in Virginia and Kansas.
Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said in a Zoom conference call with reporters that ACC should not cancel the rest of the tournament, although the remaining three teams are almost certain to be invited to the NCAA Tournament.
“We want to win that game and put our name in the record books,” said Pastner, adding that he hopes the Cavaliers will also be able to compete next week.
“They are the national champions in title. They are the champions of our league, ”he said.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement that he was “heartbroken” by the players, coaches and support staff in Duke and Virginia and that the league will follow the example of “our medical personnel”.
The NCAA tournament will be held entirely in Indiana to create what NCAA senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, called a “controlled environment” instead of a bubble.
Tournament protocols include requiring each member of a team’s travel group to complete seven negative COVID-19 tests before leaving for Indianapolis. Gavitt said that a team can continue playing if it has five players available through these security protocols.
“This whole year has been very different for everyone with the testing protocols, social detachment, wearing masks, making sure you are not seeing people outside your real bubble,” said Virginia guard Sam Hauser after the Thursday’s victory against Syracuse in the last -second shot.
“Very proud of our boys. We were very disciplined throughout the year and we continue to be so, especially at this time of year when if you catch a COVID bug like that, it could end your season. … we will just continue to follow the correct protocols and everything should be fine. “
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AP sports writer Hank Kurz Jr. in Virginia and AP basketball writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri contributed to this report.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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