Out of caution, the Arizona Wildcats football program has suspended all team activities, including spring practices, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Players and their families have been told that there will be no official team activities until further notice.
The Wildcats opened spring drills on March 2 and worked out for the better part of a week before taking time off for spring break. The team was expected to practice next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The UA's spring game was scheduled for April 4.
The Wildcats followed the lead of other college football programs, conferences and professional sports leagues.
Earlier Thursday, the Pac-12 canceled its men's basketball tournament, which had begun in Las Vegas the previous day. The NCAA then announced that both its men's and women's basketball tournaments and all spring sports championships would not be played.
In an interview on Pac-12 Networks, Commissioner Larry Scott announced a “halt for the moment” of all conference competition.
“We’ve been dealing with a rapidly escalating series of events,” Scott told Pac-12 Networks host Mike Yam. “It became clear that we needed to take the next step out of an abundance of caution for the safety and welfare and the health of our student-athletes.”
Scott consulted with leaders of all 12 league institutions and said they felt a societal responsibility to help in “flattening the curve on the spread of the virus.”
“But our highest care has to be for our student-athletes,” Scott said, “and that’s how we reluctantly came to this decision, which we know is really hard for the student-athletes, especially the seniors. These are moments they’ve looked forward to and worked hard for their whole lives. No one came to these decisions lightly.”
Michigan and Ohio State are among non-Pac-12 schools that have canceled spring practices and/or games. Within the league, Stanford announced it would “cancel all of our winter and spring sport seasons, effective immediately.” USC announced that “practices, competitions, camps and clinics have been suspended until further notice.” Arizona State, Cal and UCLA also have made similar declarations.
Tucson's three professional sports teams — the Tucson Roadrunners, Tucson Sugar Skulls and FC Tucson — all announced Thursday that they've either postponed or suspended their seasons because of the virus. The same goes for the World Baseball Classic qualifiers, which were scheduled to begin Thursday at Kino Stadium.
The UA's campus remains open, and students are expected to resume taking classes — most of them online — starting on Wednesday. Student-athletes must continue to fulfill academic requirements to remain eligible for the presumptive resumption of athletics in the summer.
Arizona is scheduled to open the 2020 football season on Aug. 29 against Hawaii. Training camp typically begins about a month before the season.
The UA football program is still figuring out a plan for the school’s pro day, which had been scheduled for Tuesday of next week. Pro days are important opportunities for would-be NFL players to meet with and work out for league scouts. Arizona has three players who could be drafted: quarterback Khalil Tate, tailback J.J. Taylor and cornerback Jace Whittaker.
UA officials have spoken with the NFL office and other schools to get a feel for the situation. Michigan and Penn State are among schools that have canceled or postponed their pro days. Some NFL teams have reduced travel and/or pulled their personnel off the road.
The situation is considered fluid, and Arizona will adjust if it’s deemed unwise to conduct pro day under the current circumstances.
Recruiting is another issue Arizona and other programs must figure out. Spring typically is a time when programs host recruits; this past Friday, the UA hosted three 7-on-7 teams at Arizona Stadium. In 2018, a new rule went into effect allowing high school juniors to take official visits from April through June.
Scott said he and university leaders are having “an ongoing discussion about recruiting and whether recruiting activities should be postponed or halted. There are layers of decisions that still have to be made.”
UCLA announced Thursday evening that “all on- and off-campus recruiting and recruiting-related travel have been suspended until further notice.”
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