K-State’s no longer going to Caymans for basketball tourney. Here’s the new destination
The Kansas State basketball team was supposed to spend a week playing tournament games on a tropical island at the Cayman Islands Classic this November, but the coronavirus pandemic is forcing the Wildcats to make alternate travel plans.
Tournament organizers have decided to move the event away from the Cayman Islands and instead host it at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla., according to a report from Stadium college basketball reporter John Goodman.
Niceville is located in the Florida panhandle near Destin on the Emerald Coast.
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from Nov. 23-25 with all eight participating teams playing three games. In addition to K-State, the following teams are in the 2020 tournament field: Miami, Mississippi, Oregon State, Nevada, Northern Iowa, La Salle and Western Kentucky.
It makes sense that tournament organizers would look for an alternate location for this year’s Cayman Islands Classic, as international travel has been problematic as countries deal with COVID-19 concerns. All travel to the Cayman Islands is currently restricted until September.
After that, the island will open its borders to tourism travel in phases.
But moving the tournament to Florida could also present some new problems for event organizers, unless the Sunshine State can slow the spread of positive coronavirus cases within its borders.
COVID-19 cases have spiked in Florida all month, and it is currently one of the biggest virus hot spots in the country. It is also one of two states that is currently featured on a quarantine list for all Kansas residents. The other is Arizona.
If the tournament was played this week, K-State basketball players would be required to go into isolation for 14 days after they returned home from the event.
But things could obviously change quite a bit between now and November when the tournament is scheduled to be played.
Moving this tournament to Florida means K-State will travel to the Sunflower State in back-to-back years for Thanksgiving week basketball events. The Wildcats lost a pair of games against Pittsburgh and Bradley at the Fort Myers Tip-Off last November.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 1:37 PM with the headline "K-State’s no longer going to Caymans for basketball tourney. Here’s the new destination."