The NCAA Tournament and all other NCAA winter and spring sports will be canceled because of the coronavirus, the NCAA announced Thursday afternoon.
In a statement, the NCAA said president Mark Emmert and its Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships.
The statement read: "This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities."
NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships: https://t.co/qzKAS4McEI pic.twitter.com/G6XreZx35E
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 12, 2020
Four hours earlier, the Pac-12 announced that it was cancelling the remainder of its tournament starting Thursday. Arizona beat Washington 77-70 on Wednesday in what turned out to be its final game, ending the Wildcats' season at 21-11.
"The past 24 hours have felt like a bad dream," UA freshman guard Nico Mannion tweeted Thursday, between the Pac-12 and NCAA cancellations.
The UA women may be even harder hit by the NCAA's decision. Ranked No. 13 nationally, the Wildcats were expected to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament next week. The UA, led by star guard Aari McDonald and its best collection of talent in decades, advanced to the Pac-12 semifinals on Saturday, where it lost to Oregon.
"I just had to tell my team that our season is over. Just like that," UA coach Adia Barnes tweeted. "We worked so hard. We were getting ready to host in the NCAA Tourney, we had not been there in 15 years."
It's unclear what the NCAA's decision to cancel its spring championships means for the Wildcats' baseball and softball teams, or if their seasons will even take place.
