A day after the SEC announced it would be closing its annual basketball tournament to fans, the SEC decided to cancel the entire tournament.
“ALERT: Based on the latest developments and the continued spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Southeastern Conference today announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville,” the SEC said in a tweet Thursday morning.
The decision comes just a day after the NBA cancelled it’s 2020 season and the same morning Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC cancelled their annual tournaments.
“I’ve not had a situation as difficult and emotional as this one to make a recommendation to our presidents and chancellors that we cancel the remainder of our men’s basketball tournament,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday. “It was a moment where I had to stop and actually catch myself and recompose myself.”
Sankey discussed the local struggles in Nashville as the city and mid state try to recover from last week’s tornado.
“For us it means we’re not playing basketball in Nashville the remainder of the week,” Sankey said. “Part of the hurt here is the city’s been through a lot in the last couple of weeks. I don’t have a Nashville Strong T-shirt, I will, because we’re a part of this community through our events, through our annual presence, our media days that are coming, our basketball tournaments that are here annually well into the 30s.”
Tennessee is still eligible for a bid to the NIT with its 17-14 record, and just yesterday, the tournament announced it would continue without fans in attendance; however, the increased concern in the past 24 hours has made it unclear whether or not the tournament will continue.
While neither Tennessee, nor its coaches, have made an official statement, UT head coach Rick Barnes told ESPN’s Marty Smith that he believed the event should be cancelled just minutes before the SEC announced it.
“The kids have no voice,” Smith shared Barnes quote in a tweet. “Are we just waiting on someone to get sick? Us and Alabama should be the first ones to say, ‘We ain’t playing.’”
Just minutes later, the league announced that all SEC athletic events would be suspended until at least March 30.
Tennessee’s baseball team was off to a hot start in the 2020 season going 15-2 in the pre-SEC slate. The Vols were set to open SEC play this weekend at South Carolina.
The Tennessee softball team was set to travel to College Station on the weekend to open SEC play against Texas A&M.
