Mizzou will play SEC Tournament sans spectators
NASHVILLE — As recently as Tuesday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the rest of the conference office had every intention of proceeding with the league's annual men's basketball tournament as normal. Even as tipoff approached for the first game Wednesday evening, when NCAA president Mark Emmert released a statement saying he would not permit spectators to attend NCAA Tournament games due to the escalating coronavirus scare, the SEC admitted fans into Bridgestone Arena for the matchups between Georgia and Ole Miss and Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
By the conclusion of the first game, the conference had been forced to reverse course. Only "essential staff, credentialed media and limited family" will be permitted entrance for the final four days of the tournament, beginning Thursday. Missouri begins tournament play Thursday at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M.
Sankey described his reaction to the NCAA's decision as "surprise, shock and ... disappointment." After Emmert announced his decision, he said, the SEC received "some information" from the COVID-19 advisory group. The conference then held a conference call with leadership from each school and decided to remove the majority of spectators from the tournament.
"(I) respect that medical leaders, experts, have provided a recommendation," Sankey said. "I wish it may have been earlier or perhaps later, it's the best information available now, and we have to respect that. As I walk through the day, from the initial analysis, you clear your mind and you start working through decisions that have to be made. That's the responsibility that I have as the commissioner of this conference."
Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk offered support for Sankey's decision In a release. He also said the Tigers' athletics teams will continue to practice and compete as previously scheduled.
“We are dealing with a rapidly changing and very fluid situation and the safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff is paramount," Sterk's statement read. "At this time, Mizzou’s athletic teams are continuing to prepare for postseason and regular season completion as scheduled. Daily team activities and practices will continue until further notice and we continue to monitor developments.
"Decisions for team travel will be made on a case by case basis, but there are no changes to announce at this time. The athletics department takes direction from the University which is in constant communication with the Boone County Health Department, state and national officials."
The NCAA's decision came around 3:30 p.m. central time. Earlier in the day, the World Health Organization characterized the COVID-19 disease as a “pandemic” because of how quickly it has spread. Each of the NCAA's high-major conferences responded similarly to the SEC, barring all but a few spectators from competition beginning Thursday. The ban on spectators also extends to all other sports on SEC campuses through March 30. Sankey said as of Wednesday night, a decision had not been reached on holding spring football games.
The Ivy League went so far as to cancel its men's and women's basketball tournaments, as well as all spring and winter sports. Sankey said the SEC has not yet had any discussions about canceling the remainder of the tournament. Around 9 p.m., the NBA announced that it would suspend its regular season.
"I continue to believe it's important that we give all 14 teams who arrived here in Nashville the opportunity to play for a conference tournament championship, our automatic bid," he said. "We're going to continue to do that."
Players and coaches of teams slated to play Thursday met with reporters before the conference finalized its decision not to include spectators, and at the time, most admitted to not fully briefed on the situation. The NCAA’s statement went public in the midst of Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin’s interview with reporters. He said “you have to take precautions,” but took the majority of his response off the record. A day prior, he said he wouldn't bat an eye if the Tigers had to play in front of no fans.
“This is life stuff," Cuonzo Martin said. "This sport is secondary when you’re talking life stuff. ... It's just a game. There’s life and there’s sport. It’s real simple. If they shut it down, shut it down. Keep moving.”
Tigers center Reed Nikko said he hadn’t been keeping up with all the virus-related complications and cancelations. He quipped, “If you guys need to know anything about some fish, I’ve got you. But viruses are out of my realm." But Nikko, Missouri’s lone senior, said the Tigers as a team hadn’t spent a time thinking about the possibility of playing without fans.
“It’s completely outside our realm of control,” Nikko said. “I mean, obviously we talk about, like, ‘wow, that’s crazy, this is crazy,’ this and that. But I think we’re all pretty focused in on playing basketball and then we’ll kind of fall in from there and hope things work out well.”
South Carolina coach Frank Martin had the most time of any coach to process the NCAA news before addressing the media. The 14-year head coaching veteran joked that the rest of the league would get to experience what he felt during a South Carolina-Mississippi State game at Bridgestone Arena seven years ago, at which he said "Big Blue Nation hadn’t arrived yet, so there’s maybe 37 people watching that game.”
Martin said It's not Ideal for players to have to play In an empty arena, but he trusted Sankey and the rest of the conference leadership to make the prudent decision.
“At the end of the day, the safety, the welfare of players, of coaches, of administrators, of fans, that’s number one,” he said. “And sometimes we get inconvenienced from what we want to do because decisions are made for what’s right. And I’m not a decision-maker in this process. I listen to the leadership on my campus, the leadership of this university and the leadership of the community that I live in, for my family and my players. Whatever decisions those folks make, those are what I’m going to roll with.
“Players don’t like running out to empty arenas. It’s a deflating thing. Whether you’re at home or on the road or on a neutral court, when you run out to play and there’s no one in the stands, it’s a different feeling. It’s not one we’re all trained to do, coaching in the SEC. We’re used to going out and playing in front of a lot of people. But it is what it is. It’s unfortunate, but situations like this, where we’re going to make a mistake, I’d rather be safe than sorry. And the decisions to protect are always a lot better than decisions that keep people happy.”
Sankey said that all fans who originally purchased tickets for upcoming conference sporting events will be fully reimbursed.