The Big Sky Conference Commissioner, Tom Wistrcill, held a teleconference on Monday to explain the reasoning behind the decision to cancel spring sports due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The Big Sky made their decision to cancel the events March 12 after multiple conferences announced cancellations.
“In the span of about 15 minutes, we went from describing how we were going to manage the tournament without fans to our presidents discussing canceling the tournament. They ultimately decided that was the right thing to do,” Wistrcill said. “We made that decision and immediately gathered the athletic directors on a conference call. I shared the news with them and by 10:15 a.m., they were alerting their coaches, student-athletes and fanbases that our tournament had been canceled.”
The Big Sky is working to refund everyone who has bought a ticket for the men’s and women’s Big Sky Basketball Championships. It is too early to tell what kind of financial effect COVID-19 will have on the conference, Wistrcill said.
Wistrcill confirmed there were no fans in attendance who had a confirmed case of coronavirus.
The NCAA decided to push legislation on Friday to allow for spring sport athletes to gain another year of eligibility. Wistrcill said the decision will raise issues of financial aid, scholarships and roster size limits for next season.
At this time, there is no confirmation on if winter sport athletes who had their seasons cut short will receive eligibility for next season.
The Big Sky will hold a president’s meeting in the next 48 hours as well as on April 15 to discuss the state of Big Sky sports for the rest of the year.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached @[email protected]