By Marty Gordon
As many as a dozen Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) contests were cancelled or rescheduled this past weekend because of positive COVID-19 tests, including the Virginia Tech at UVA men’s game, cancelled following a positive test, subsequent quarantining and contact tracing within the UVA program.
The decision to cancel the game came late Friday. In a prepared statement, the ACC said, “Teams are adhering to the outlined protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report.”
Those protocols require that in all high- and intermediate-risk sports other than football, a molecular (PCR) test shall be administered three (3) calendar days prior to the competition. The visiting team must have results from the test performed within three days prior to the competition before the team travels to the site. In high-risk sports, a test shall be administered within 48 hours of the conclusion of a game and may be either a molecular (PCR) or antigen test.
This is the second time this season COVID has shut down the UVA program. Unlike football, one positive case can lead to postponements and a quarantine period for the basketball programs.
As a result, the basketball programs in both the ACC and the Big South are struggling to maintain a January schedule, and many programs are not expecting the protocol to change. Both the ACC and the Big South, of which Radford University is a member, have been plagued with these shutdowns.
Radford’s women’s program has lost three games in the early part of their schedule because of COVID. Radford head coach Mike McGuire was even diagnosed with the virus in the past two months.
The Big South announced Saturday another pause in the Radford program and its current schedule because of another COVID case. This includes postponements of both the Hampton and Charleston Southern series.
