On Monday, UB announced both the men’s and women’s Nov. 25 basketball games against Gannon won’t be played due to positive COVID test results and subsequent contact tracing within Gannon’s Tier 1 personnel.
Tier 1 members include student-athletes, coaches, team managers and athletic support staff.
“The well-being of student-athletes and staff remains the primary concern for everyone in our community,” UB Athletics said in a statement released Monday night. “The Department of Athletics and the university will continue to follow all guidelines and safety protocols provided by the NCAA, Mid-American Conference and Erie County Health Department officials.”
The cancellation comes after a slew of COVID related issues throughout college basketball. Over the last couple of days, head coaches Rick Barnes of Tennessee and Scott Drew of Baylor both tested positive for COVID. Duke’s first game against Gardner-Webb was also postponed and in-conference opponent Akron opted out of the “Gulf Coast Showcase” in Estero, FL due to COVID concerns.
Neither contest will be made up, and both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are working with other programs to arrange schedule adjustments.
Anthony DeCicco is the Senior Sports Editor and can be reached at anthony.decicco@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @DeCicco42.
Anthony DeCicco is the Editor-in-Chief of The Spectrum. His words have appeared in outlets such as SLAM Magazine andSyracuse.com. In 2020, he was awarded First Prize for Sports Column Writing at the Society of Professional Journalists' Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards. In his free time, he can be found watching ‘90s Knicks games and reading NFL Mock Drafts at 3 a.m.
