Kansas has retired from the Big 12 tournament after a positive test of COVID-19, the school announced Friday.
The Jayhawks were scheduled to face Texas in the Big 12 semifinals on Friday; the Longhorns will move on to the championship to play the winner of the Baylor-Oklahoma state.
The great men of Kansas, David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna, missed the Big 12 tournament due to the COVID-19 protocols, although coach BIll Self did not specify whether the players tested positive for the virus or whether they were out of contact tracking. Neither player traveled with the team to Kansas City.
Kansas will remain in Kansas City and will continue to be tested daily in accordance with NCAA tournament protocols.
“Viouslybviamente, we’re disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” Self said. “While we’ve been lucky enough to avoid it throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everyone involved is trying to avoid. We’ve followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been set up for we have unfortunately been wrong at the wrong time. I hope to prepare my team probably in a unique way for next week’s NCAA tournament. “
Kansas is the fourth team in the last two days to retire from its conference tournament due to COVID-19 problems, after Duke and Virginia in the ACC and North Carolina’s No. 1 A&T in the MEAC.
Virginia and Kansas could still play in the NCAA tournament, despite having to show seven consecutive days of negative testing. Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of NCAA men’s basketball, said a team only needs five healthy players to play in an NCAA tournament. If neither the Cavaliers nor the Jayhawks have a widespread outbreak of COVID-19 and the rest of the team continues to give negative results, both teams could participate in the NCAA tournament.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett said Friday that the Cavaliers “exhaust all options to participate in the NCAA tournament.”