ACC suspends all athletics activity; NCAA cancels basketball tournament

By Jerry Ratcliffe

GREENSBORO, N.C. — If Thursday afternoon’s sudden cancellation of the remainder of the ACC Tournament wasn’t eerie enough here in the city the conference calls home, what followed a few hours later certainly was.

The ACC announced it has suspended all athletic-related activities — including all competition, formal and organized practice, recruiting and participation in NCAA championships — until further notice. The decision was made following consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, with several schools suspending all athletic activity, the NCAA announced the cancellation of its national tournament, which was scheduled to begin next week and continue on until April.

“This is uncharted territory and the health and safety of our student-athletes and institutions remains our top priority,” said ACC commissioner John Swofford. “This decision is aimed to protect from the further spread of COVID-19.”

The University of Virginia quickly followed suit.

Virginia immediately suspended all sports activity until further notice.

“We understand this is unusual and unprecedented,” said UVA athletic director Carla Williams. “These are extremely unusual times. These decisions will be reviewed on a daily basis as circumstances change.

“This is not ideal for anyone, but the goal is to preserve and protect the health and safety of as many people in our athletics family and beyond as possible.”

UVA noted that fans who have purchased tickets to athletic events can contact the school’s athletic ticket office (800-542-8821) Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by email: uvatickets@virginia.edu. The school will communicate any changes and guidelines for periodic updates, which will also be announced at JerryRatcliffe.com.

The scenario was ever-changing throughout the day, particularly in the ACC.

Swofford held a special press conference an hour before the first game of the ACC Tournament quarterfinal round was scheduled to begin at the Greensboro Coliseum, and at that time he announced the remainder of the ACC event would continue, although the general public would not attend, only team and school personnel and families of players.

Shortly afterward, Duke University announced it would not participate in its quarterfinal game against NC State, scheduled for 2:30. Duke also announced it was suspending all athletic competition until further notice.

As other major conferences began to cancel their conference basketball tournaments, the ACC was forced into a turnabout decision. After Swofford deliberated with the league’s presidents and athletic directors, it was decided the ACC would shut down the remainder of its tournament just minutes before Florida State and Clemson were due to meet in the first of four quarterfinal games.

Swofford presented the league’s championship trophy to Florida State and declared it the champion, even though the Seminoles had not played a minute of action in the tournament due to their double bye.

Later in the afternoon, Swofford again held a conference call with the league’s 15 presidents and ADs, followed by the decision to suspend all athletic activity.

Virginia’s basketball team, the defending national champions, was practicing at nearby UNC-Greensboro when it received the announcement that the tournament was cancelled. The Cavaliers packed up, boarded their bus and headed back to Charlottesville.