By ADAM ZAGORIA
Kansas became the latest high-profile program to withdraw from its conference tournament on Friday after a positive COVID-19 test within the program.
After Duke on Thursday and Virginia on Friday both had to pull out of the ACC Tournament due to positive tests, the Jayhawks have withdrawn from the Big 12 Tournament. They were slated to face Texas in one semifinal Friday.
Texas advances to the final and will face the Baylor-Oklahoma State winner in Saturday’s title game.
Kansas will remain in Kansas City in preparation for the NCAA Tournament following the health and safety protocols set by Kansas Team Health, the school announced. The team will continue to be tested daily per NCAA guidelines.
Kansas had announced Tuesday that David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna would miss the Big 12 tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.
Like Virginia, if they can field a team of at least five players, they would be able to play in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Jayhawks projected as a 3 seed.
“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” head coach Bill Self said. “While we have been fortunate to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everybody participating is trying to avoid. We have followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been setup for us, unfortunately we caught a bad break at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in probably a unique way for next week’s NCAA Tournament.”
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