The University of Miami men’s basketball team had just begun its pregame meal on Monday afternoon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, when coaches got word of a video on social media showing unmasked University of North Carolina players celebrating Saturday night’s win over Duke.
UM coach Jim Larranaga called athletic director Blake James, met with his players, and with UNC officials, and a mutual decision was made to postpone the game as a precaution because Tar Heels players may have been exposed to COVID-19 during those parties.
The ACC announced the game will be postponed until a date to be determined.
“There was a video that was out there with several of their players without masks at a party at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, which is less than 48 hours from our game,” said Larranaga, reached by phone. “Our president [Julio] Frenk is adamant that student-athletes are allowed to compete, but they’ve got to stay safe, social distance.
“Our guys have done a fantastic job. We have not had a single guy test positive and they were all unanimous that this isn’t right. We have been quarantining, hibernating, whatever you want to call it, and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position (to get the virus). We came to a decision that it’s better to postpone the game.”
It is a tradition at UNC for students to storm Franklin Street after victories over Duke, and there was a large throng of students who did so after Saturday’s win.
The Hurricanes (7-11, 3-10 ACC) were coming off an overtime loss to Virginia Tech, following a win over Duke. The Tar Heels (12-6, 7-4) defeated UM 67-65 when they played Jan. 5.
