WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary halted all activities within their men's basketball program after someone who worked with the team tested positive for COVID-19.
The team learned about the positive test on Sunday. The athletics department says a Tier 1 personnel member was the one who came down with the virus.
All Tier 1 members of the men's basketball program including players, coaches, trainers, and managers will have to quarantine for 14 days.
"The health and safety of our student-athletes, staff, and community will always be the priority," Interim Director of Athletics Jeremy Martin said. "We will continue to work closely with university leadership and our medical personnel to ensure we are maintaining the safest possible environment for all involved."
The Tribe had an away game set in Raleigh Monday night against NC State.
There were also scheduled games in the next few days against Hampton University, George Washington University, Norfolk State, and Virginia State University. Those games won't be played.
The program should return to its regularly-scheduled activity starting Monday, Dec. 14.
The university's athletics department reversed a decision made in September where they cut seven varsity sports programs as a cost-saving measure. Now, the school is looking into if they can create a plan to sustain the sports programs for the long-term.
The news comes after the team played Old Dominion University over the weekend. The campus is reacting to the positive case.
"We hope everyone is following the protocols," student Wassim Nukayed said. "If they were to cancel games I wouldn't be surprised."
Head Coach Dane Fischer said in a statement, “Keeping our student-athletes safe and healthy has been our top priority from the start. The university has made tremendous efforts to protect our entire campus community and the athletics department has an invaluable resource in Dr. [Virginia] Wells, the program’s Chief Medical Officer. Our protocols are in place to ensure we were able to identify any positive results, contact trace and quarantine as necessary. We will diligently follow the guidelines set forth in order to ensure the health and safety of the members of our program and community, and look forward to returning to the court when it is considered safe to do so.”
The few students left on campus hope this isn't a preview of what's to come.
"It's hard to feel scared, when you're younger we're not as worried as older people, but walking around, we're okay," Nukayed said. "Hopefully [after] a couple weeks of quarantine, but I wouldn't jump to ending the season early."