Sun Belt cancels all spring sports

The Sun Belt Conference is canceling all organized athletics-related activities for the remainder of the academic year due to concerns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the conference announced on Monday.

The league previously suspended all regular-season competitions and conference championships indefinitely last Thursday but are now choosing to make the suspension permanent and expand to practices as well.

ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported on Friday that the NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee agreed to grant an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes who participated in spring sports. He added that the committee was also discussing what to do with student-athletes in winter sports, many of whom did not get to compete in a conference championship this year.

NCAA President Mark Emmert said in an interview with ESPN that the association’s board of governors was currently discussing the best plan of action.

“They have not figured out the exact mechanism for that,” Emmert told ESPN. “They are examining what makes sense for winter sports. It's obviously less clear for winter sports. Almost all of the winter sports were done. We still had a lot of basketball left to be played in the tournaments, but all regular conference play was done. There are a lot of different perspectives on it. Obviously, taking away a tournament opportunity from a young man or young woman is just brutal. On the other hand, who is going to get an extra year? Is it everybody, whether they were going to make the tournament or not? Is it only those who are going to continue as graduate students? Is it going to come at the cost of freshmen who were just recruited, and they're going to come in and not going to get to play? Are they going to extend scholarships and offer more scholarships, and can every school afford that? There are a lot of issues and a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

Texas State head baseball coach Steven Trout released a statement on his Twitter account Sunday regarding the current state of NCAA athletics on Sunday.

“It’s been a crazy few days and a lot of unknown for the future,” Trout said. “I pray for our country through these tough days and know God has a plan. We always talk about controlling what we control. So with these days without baseball I’m going to do just that. Get back to being the best husband and #girldad I can be. I’ll continue to be there for my players and whenever the day comes they say ‘Play Ball’ the Bobcats will be ready! Stay safe out there!”