The men’s basketball team for Virginia Commonwealth University was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament after multiple positive COVID-19 tests, automatically allowing the University of Oregon to advance to the next round.
“The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee has declared the VCU-Oregon game scheduled for Saturday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols. … As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament,” the NCAA said in a statement on Saturday. “The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues we cannot provide further details.”
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The NCAA ruled the first-round game between VCU and Oregon, which was scheduled to take place Saturday night, a no-contest, and now No. 7 seed Oregon is moving on to face off against the winner of a contest between the University of Iowa and Grand Canyon University.
VCU’s basketball said it was “heartbroken” in a tweet after the NCAA’s announcement about the ouster from the March Madness tournament.
“We’ve been tested every day for the past three weeks. But within the past 48 hours we’ve received multiple positive tests,” VCU head coach Mike Rhoades said. “We are devastated for our players and coaches. It has been a dream for all of us to play in the NCAA tournament. … Life isn’t always fair, but it’s about how you deal with it and move forward.”
Oregon’s head coach told the VCU players he wishes them the best.
“We would like to wish the VCU student-athletes and staff all the best, and congratulate them on an outstanding season. We hate to see a team’s season end this way after all the hard work these student-athletes have put in,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said in a statement. “This isn’t the way we wanted to advance, but we are excited to be moving on and we will start our preparation for Monday’s game.”
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The VCU Rams had earned an at-large berth to the tournament after a 19-7 season. The school’s team was playing in the tournament for the 18th time in school history and the 12th since 2004.
