KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Because of a positive COVID-19 test on Friday morning within the Kansas men’s basketball team, the Jayhawks have withdrawn from the 2021 Big 12 men’s basketball tournament.
KU, which was to play Texas in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday, will stay in Kansas City in preparation for the NCAA Tournament “following the health and safety protocols set by Kansas Team Health,” KU said in a statement issued just before 1 p.m. Friday.
Members of the team will continue to be tested daily. KU did not report which player or member of the team’s traveling party had tested positive.
“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” KU coach Bill Self said. “While we have been fortunate to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everybody participating is trying to avoid. We have followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been setup for us, unfortunately we caught a bad break at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in probably a unique way for next week’s NCAA Tournament.”
KU’s David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna did not travel with the team to the Big 12 tournament. They remained in Lawrence, held out of competition because of COVID-19 protocols.
The Big 12 issued a statement that indicated “the cancellation (of KU-Texas game) follows a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Kansas men’s basketball program.”
With the NCAA Tournament looming and KU assured of a berth, the team will continue to be tested daily per NCAA guidelines.
The NCAA released guidelines in January on NCAA Tournament protocols that stated, “All Tier 1 travel party participants will be required to undergo and document seven consecutive negative COVID-19 tests prior to arrival into Indianapolis.” Tier 1 includes student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials.
The first round of the NCAA Tournament starts in one week, March 19.
With Kansas out, Texas will advance to the Big 12 tournament championship game Saturday against the winner of the Baylor-Oklahoma State semifinal, which was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
The Jayhawks had only one game during the regular season canceled, a December game against Tarleton State because of a positive test in that program. But Kansas added a game to conclude the regular season against Texas-El Paso, and played a full 27-game regular-season schedule.
Kansas became the second team on Friday to end its conference tournament run. In the ACC, Virginia’s semifinal game against Georgia Tech was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test in the Cavaliers’ program.
Two days earlier, Duke’s tournament came to an end with a positive test in the Blue Devils’ program. Duke also removed itself from NCAA Tournament consideration.
