Pac-12 tournament to open under new coronavirus safeguards
Some conference basketball tournaments were canceled or drastically altered Tuesday in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but the Pac-12 tourney will take place with subtle changes as scheduled this week at T-Mobile Arena.
The conference announced a series of steps it was taking as the tournament opens Wednesday.
Those changes included:
— Hand sanitizers will be available throughout the arena, and the building will be cleaned and disinfected more frequently.
— Locker rooms will be open only to players and essential staff. Media interviews will take place elsewhere.
— Each school will decide whether to brings its band and spirit squads.
— The conference’s Hall of Honor induction that was scheduled for Friday will be delayed until next year’s tournament.
— Players, coaches and university and conference officials will be updated daily on the virus. and will react accordingly.
Among the teams playing Wednesday is Washington, which faces Arizona at 2:30 p.m. The Seattle area was the early U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and Huskies coach Mike Hopkins was asked last week about precautions his team was taking. He said any player who exhibits any symptoms that might be related to the virus are not allowed to travel.
No Washington player was prohibited from making the trip to Las Vegas.
“You’ve got to be careful,” Hopkins said. “Stuff’s changing so rapidly with new information that we’re just doing what we’re being told by the university. Travel cautiously.”
Other conferences took more extreme measures than the Pac-12.
The Ivy League canceled its men’s and women’s tournaments. Ivy League players went to change.org to petition reinstating the tournaments, and more than 7,100 people had signed as of late Tuesday afternoon.
The Big West and Mid-American conferences announced they would play their tournaments without fans present. The Big West tournament is Thursday through Saturday in Anaheim, California, and the MAC’s tourney is Thursday through Saturday in Cleveland.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked Tuesday that no events in his state take place in front of fans. That request also could greatly alter the NCAA’s Tournament’s First Four on March 17-18 in Dayton, Ohio, and the first- and second-round games March 20 and 22 in Cleveland.
The NCAA issued a statement Tuesday that read: “The NCAA continues to assess how COVID-19 impacts the conduct of our tournaments and events. We are consulting with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel, who are leading experts in epidemiology and public health, and will make decisions in the coming days.”
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
