GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference has canceled play at the men’s basketball tournament, the conference announced on Thursday afternoon. Florida State will represent the league as the ACC Champion, the league said in a statement. 

“Following additional consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors, and in light of the continued conversations surrounding the fluidity of COVID-19, the Atlantic Coast Conference will immediately cancel the remainder of the 2020 ACC Tournament,” the statement read. 

“We are disappointed for our student-athletes, schools and fans to have to make this decision; however, the overall health and safety of all involved is the priority,” the press release continued.

Initially, ACC commissioner John Swofford announced the conference would continue its tournament on Thursday morning with limited fans and only essential personnel. He said the situation was “fluid” and will be evaluated hourly.

“We want to provide an opportunity to continue to compete for our players,” Swofford said.

Swofford added that each ACC school president and athletic director agreed to continue play. Syracuse Athletics could not be reached for comment.

“Hopefully we won’t have to make another decision in the next few days, but we will if we have to do so,” Swofford said. 

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Shortly after Swofford’s announcement, the Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern and American Athletic Conference and Atlantic-10 canceled their tournaments. Then, the ACC’s decision changed. 

It’s unclear what sparked the change in decision by the ACC. Based on Swofford’s press conference, no clear line was drawn on what would warrant a tournament cancelation or suspension. The ACC provided no additional information as to what changed between 10:57 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on Thursday. 

On Wednesday, each Power-5 conference announced they’d play the rest of their men’s basketball tournaments in front of only essential staff and limited family attendance. As of Thursday morning, the NCAA plans to play the men’s and women’s national tournaments without fans as well. 

Syracuse beat North Carolina, 81-53, on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC tournament. It was the last ACC tournament game to be played in front of spectators.

With the win, Syracuse would’ve moved on to play third-seeded Louisville in the conference quarterfinals. Instead, it may have been the Orange’s final game of the season. 

“We don’t know the depth of what this is,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I just don’t know how we keep people safe.”

Boeheim stressed safety during his press conference following Wednesday night’s win and noted it may have been Syracuse’s last game. 

The ACC’s decision comes a day after the NBA suspended its season. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday night, and his teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive on Thursday morning. Syracuse players learned of the NBA suspension at halftime of the North Carolina game. 

The ACC and other conferences join the G-League — the NBA’s developmental league — the Ivy League, the College Basketball Invitational, Major League Soccer, ATP Professional Tennis, and Italian soccer league Serie A as sports entities that have canceled or suspended play.

Published on March 12, 2020 at 12:21 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez