Chicago St plans to play in WAC tourney after cancellations

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago State plans to send its men’s and women’s basketball teams to Las Vegas for the WAC Tournament next week after canceling regular-season games because of concerns about the spread of the corona virus.

The school said Friday, based on discussions with the league and its own review of “the current information available,” both teams will travel to their conference tournaments scheduled for March 11-14. Chicago State also said those plans could change.

“We will continue to monitor this very fluid situation and reserve the right to make any changes to student athlete travel schedules based upon any new recommendations and/or information provided by the CDPH, IDPH or CDC that would potentially pose a threat to the health and safety of our student athletes,” the school said in a statement.

Chicago State announced Tuesday night it was canceling its men’s basketball road trip to Seattle and Utah Valley, and said its women’s team would not host two games against those same schools. Missouri-Kansas City then joined Chicago State in canceling a trip to Seattle for a regularly scheduled WAC men’s basketball game this week.

The cancellations were believed to be the first by a major sport in the United States due to the virus.

The Chicago State’s teams are last in the WAC. The men have lost 19 straight and are 4-25 overall with an 0-14 mark in conference play. The women are 1-26, with a 1-13 league mark.