Coronavirus: College basketball, including Big 12 and NCAA, proceeding with caution
As college basketball tournament season approaches, advice and warnings are going out for the coronavirus.
The Big 12 men’s and women’s tournaments will be played at Sprint Center and Municipal Auditorium, respectively, next week. There are no plans to alter either event, but conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the league will remain in contact with the Sprint Center’s medical partner, the University of Kansas Health System.
“We’re monitoring things closely,” Bowlsby said. “We’re wise to be cautious.”
The men’s tournament begins on March 11, the women’s event on March 12.
The men’s NCAA Tournament begins on March 17 and the women’s tournament starts later that week. On Tuesday, the NCAA announced it had established a COVID-19 advisory panel of leading medical, public health and epidemiology experts to guide its response to the virus. The group includes college athletes as liaisons to the panel.
“The NCAA is committed to conducting its championship and events in a safe and responsible manner,” said Donald Remy, NCAA chief operating officer. “Today we planning to conduct our championships as planned. However, we are evaluating the COVID-19 situation daily and will make decisions accordingly.”
Could that mean playing games in empty arenas?
A college-player advocacy group has urged the NCAA to consider conducting this year’s tournament games that way.
“In the wake of the emerging coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA and its colleges should take precautions to protect college athletes,” read a statement by the National College Players Association. “Precautions should include canceling all auxiliary events that put players in contact with crowds … In regard to the NCAA’s March Madness tournament and other athletic events, there should be a serious discussion about holding competitions without an audience present.”
Kansas coach Bill Self said he hasn’t spoken to his team about that possibility but has encouraged his players to wash their hands, use hand sanitizer and avoid public places when possible.
As for the possibility of playing in an empty building, “I’m not going to give that much thought to it,” Self said. “It would be bad if it happened … but obviously the well-being of everybody takes precedent.”
On Wednesday, the Kansas City Roos men’s basketball team announced it would not travel to Seattle for a Western Athletic Conference game on Saturday. Earlier in the day, conference foe Chicago State said it would not travel this week to men’s games at Utah Valley and Seattle and would not play home women’s games against those teams.
According to the Seattle Times, 28 people in Washington state have been diagnosed as of Wednesday morning, including 10 people who have died.
Earlier this week in a memo, the NBA told players to avoid high-fiving fans and strangers and avoid taking any items like pens, markers, balls and jerseys from them for autographs. The memo also suggests players fist-bump fans instead of giving them high-fives.
The NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, as well as the NCAA, are consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a regular basis.
There have been no plans to postpone games, but some contingencies have been taken in other countries.
Italy has postponed professional soccer matches, for example, and China has forfeited a Davis Cup tennis match because its team was unable to travel to Romania.
The Star’s Gary Bedore contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 6:17 PM.