The 2020 men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments have been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced on Thursday (March 12). Emmert also announced the cancellation of all remaining winter and spring championships.
NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships: https://t.co/qzKAS4McEI pic.twitter.com/G6XreZx35E
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 12, 2020
Earlier in the day, less than an hour before Clemson and Florida State were to tip in the first quarterfinal, the Atlantic Coast Conference cancelled the 2020 men’s basketball tournament. Reigning national champion Virginia, which earned the No. 2 seed in this year’s ACC tournament after finishing the regular season with eight straight wins, was scheduled to take on Notre Dame Thursday evening. The Cavaliers’ 2019-20 season comes to an with a 23-7 overall record, 15-5 in the ACC.
The University of Virginia athletics department also released the following statement ahead of the NCAA’s decision.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Based on the latest developments and continued concern related to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) effective immediately all UVA Athletics activities, including practice and competition, have been suspended until further notice.
Fans who have purchased tickets to impacted events may contact the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office by phone at 800-542-8821, Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. or by email at [email protected].
Changes to athletics events and guidelines will be communicated through the University’s Coronavirus website, through local media outlets, VirginiaSports.com, email and UVA social media.
All fans are encouraged to check these sources periodically for updates.
“We understand this is unusual and unprecedented; however, these are extremely unusual times,” said Virginia athletics director Carla Williams. “These decisions will be reviewed on a daily basis as circumstances change. This is not ideal for anyone, but the goal is to preserve and protect the health and safety of as many people in our Athletics family and beyond as possible.”
The “practice and competition” activities includes spring football, which was set to begin on March 23.
President Jim Ryan and officials announced the University’s response on March 11. The response includes moving spring semester classes online.
– We will be moving our classes online. We will not be holding classes on Grounds for the foreseeable future, quite possibly through the end of the semester. We will reassess after April 5th at the earliest and periodically after that date.
– Online classes will begin Thursday, March 19.
– Students who are away on Spring Break are strongly encouraged to return home or to remain home if they are already there.
– Students on Grounds and in Charlottesville are strongly encouraged to return home by this weekend.
– University events with more than 100 people are prohibited for the foreseeable future and should be postponed, cancelled, or offered virtually.
Wow!