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- https://247sports.com/college/oklahoma/Article/Oklahoma-Sooners-spring-practice-postponed-144962980/
OU confirms suspension of all sports events until further notice - Sooners spring practice postponed for at least three weeks
“Decision on spring practice afterward seems to stem from how much Coronavirus spreads," the source said. "But that’s just initial thoughts.”
Media members were also supposed to have an open practice and interview availability session afterwards, but that, too, was canceled Thursday. The OU Athletics department made that decision in the morning.
These two decisions come after The University of Oklahoma altered things and decided to host only online courses upon students’ return to campus from spring break. Classes will be held online from March 23-April 3.
“To be clear, there are currently no cases of COVID-19 at OU,” a statement from OU stated. “The unambiguous guidance from our public health experts is that this important measure is necessary to protect the health of our community.”
Fellow league members Baylor, Texas and TCU made similar decisions Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, many others, including those in the OKC metro such as The University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University, have also done the same.
“We’ll certainly follow what our country and then here close to what our university administrators decide, but we’re trying to protect our guys right now more than anything,” said head coach Lincoln Riley the other day. “And so our biggest, our immediate focus is spring break, you know, where these guys are traveling, kind of like what we discussed the other day. So that’s kind of been, even in the last week, kind of a constant. It’s changed quite a bit in the last week, so we’re just trying to educate those guys and make sure that they’re safe during that time. So that’s the main focus right now."
Of course, the big bomb shell came when the NCAA announced the men's and women's college basketball tournaments were canceled, along with all other remaining winter and spring championships. This followed conferences across the country electing to cancel their tournaments for safety reasons to address the coronavirus pandemic.
"Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships," NCAA media contact Stacey Osburn released in a statement. "This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities."
Schools individually announced plans to shut down athletics and travel before the NCAA made the call. That includes Duke, where athletic director Kevin White serves as tournament chair.
"During this unpredictable time, Duke Athletics fully supports all measures to protect the health and welfare of the Duke family and beyond," White said. " While we understand this may be daunting to many, please know that this decision is entirely in the best interest of all student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans."
The NBA led the way on the issue, suspending its season Wednesday night.
“The NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminary tested positive for COVID-19,” the NBA announced in a press release. “The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, tonight’s game was cancelled. The affected player was not in the arena.
“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Rudy Gobert, the Jazz' All-Star center, was the one who tested positive. This morning, fellow Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell also tested positive.
Coronavirus spreads between people in close contact with one another, typically within six feet, or through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Spread is still possible before people show symptoms, although that does not stand as the typical cause, according to the CDC.
Symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath can surface 2-14 days after exposure. Without an existing vaccination to prevent the disease, the best way for prevention is avoiding exposure.
