State high school basketball tournaments postponed indefinitely. ‘It has a huge impact.’
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association attempted to move forward with its state high school basketball championships on Thursday morning but later announced it was postponing both the girls’ and boys’ events indefinitely amid the spreading coronavirus.
“We’re calling it an indefinite suspension. We’re not calling it a cancellation. There may be a way we can finish,” KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said in his second news conference of the day and third of the week on the issue. “This association needs to be leaders in decisions that are critical to education. We always have been and we always will be, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. ... I think I got the last bit of information, the last bit of good guidance and suggestions about the middle of the first quarter. And it was apparent we needed to shut down.”
Four games were played at the Girls’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena on Wednesday and one more took place Thursday morning before play was suspended. The Boys’ Sweet 16 was scheduled to take place March 18-22 in Rupp Arena.
Word of the planned postponement began filtering around the arena and on social media as Thursday afternoon’s first game between South Laurel and Sacred Heart was playing its second half. Fans arriving for the second game were being turned around at parking lots and the gate.
When the official announcement came over the public address system immediately after the game ended, there was a loud boo from the stands and some low chatter as the news set in.
South Laurel’s Ally Collett, who overcame a midseason PCL-tear to help lead her team to what many considered an amazing upset of Sacred Heart, took the postponement in stride.
“Our whole season, Coach (Chris) Souder has preached to us that we we want to go out with our last game being a win,” Collett said as she, her teammates and their families lingered on the Rupp Arena floor for as long as they could after their 58-57 victory over a team that beat them by 24 points in January. “There’s only one team that gets to do that, and that’s the state champions. That’s how you end your season happy. ... So, if this is our last game, or whatever, we did end it on a win. And a really big win. We’re really happy either way, but we really hope we get to play.”
Here is the full statement from the KHSAA in conjunction with Tackett’s appearance:
“Based on additional information and guidance from both the Kentucky Department of Education and the Governor’s office in the last hour, at this time, the girls’ state tournament is postponed indefinitely effective with the conclusion of game five. Next week’s boys’ basketball tournament is also postponed indefinitely,” the KHSAA said in a news release. “The Association will try and seek options for rescheduling later in the spring if at all possible, but not until after we have received collaborative approval from our Governor’s office, the Commissioner of Public Health and the Kentucky Department of Education.
“As has been stated for the last two weeks, the situation with the COVID-19 or Coronavirus is extremely fluid. As announced earlier today, our intention was to attempt to complete this first tournament with restrictions, however, this does not appear to be a wise option at this time and is not in the best interest of the student-athletes and the thousands of individuals who attend these events. The KHSAA has to make the health and welfare of the citizens of our great Commonwealth the primary factor in our decision-making process in dealing with this issue.
“We are hopeful that with all of the collaborative efforts of the citizens of our Commonwealth, we see this situation subside very quickly, and we have to be leaders in that journey. We also encourage all Kentucky citizens to pay close attention to the CDC and Kentucky health information at kycovid19.ky.gov and strictly adhere to those CDC guidelines, which are always subject to revision as we learn more about the virus.
“Announcements will be coming later today regarding refund options for tickets that were purchased as well as other logistics and information for fans.”
At his earlier press conference, Tackett estimated the financial impact of even limiting fans to the rest of the boys’ and girls’ tournament would cost the KHSAA $1 million, a figure that would potentially devastate its budget.
“It’s not recoverable. So, yes it has a huge impact,” Tackett said. “That cannot be part of this decision.”
The impact “could be as Draconian as staff changes and reductions. It certainly will lessen team reimbursements for these two tournaments,” Tackett said.
He also pointed to the last study he could recall that said the Sweet 16 has an estimated $6 million economic impact on Lexington.
Tackett reiterated that decisions about spring sports at this point were up to the individual schools and districts and there would not be a directive from the KHSAA on them.
He could not put a timetable on how long the Sweet 16 suspension would have to be before a full cancellation is considered. Contractually they would probably have to be played at Rupp Arena if restarted.
“We don’t know,” Tackett said. “The problem is once you get too late in the spring, you start walking all over the spring sports. ... There’s lots of logistics. We just need to see where the health care community on that first.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 12:50 PM.
