The Colonial Athletic Association was able to get through the entirety of its men’s basketball conference tournament before the sports world came to an abrupt halt due as part of the widespread efforts to slow down COVID-19’s impact on communities across the nation. Days after it came to an end — Hofstra defeated Northeastern in the final on Tuesday to secure what would have been the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history — the conference learned that one game official has been diagnosed with the virus.
According to a release put out by the CAA, an unnamed official tested positive after exhibiting symptoms 72 hours after a game he worked. Here is the release, which was distributed on Thursday:
The Colonial Athletic Association has been made aware that a game official who worked at the 2020 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship has tested positive for the Coronavirus.
The official did not exhibit symptoms of the virus until 72 hours after the game he worked, but out of an abundance of caution the conference has made the involved institutions and tournament personnel aware of the situation so they can take proper precautionary measures.
According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the person in question worked on the first day of the tournament, which was back on March 7.
Source tells me the official in question worked the first day of the CAA tournament. There is understandable concern amongst teams, media, etc. given how many people attended, who the official may have touched, locker rooms, etc.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 12, 2020
Hopefully whomever this is makes a full recovery, and just as importantly, hopefully no one who attended these games — players, coaches, spectators, arena employees, etc. — will test positive in they event they fall ill in the coming days. Earlier in the day on Thursday, it was announced that the NCAA Tournament, along with every other winter and spring NCAA championship, would be canceled.
