INDIANAPOLIS — The Horizon League announced it is canceling all remaining competition through the remainder of the academic year on March 16, in response to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
The Horizon League office released the following statement:
“Guided by its core value of student-athlete well-being and with the further developments in the outbreak of COVID-19, the Horizon League Board of Directors in collaboration with the League’s Council, decided that all Horizon League competition, both conference and non-conference, and all Horizon League Championships are canceled for the remainder of the academic year.
Individual institutions will make decisions regarding practice and recruiting in accordance with NCAA regulations, state and institutional guidelines.
The voting members of the Horizon League Board of Directors are comprised of the 10 member institutions’ chief executive officers. The Council consists of the 10 member institutions’ athletic directors, chairpersons of the Senior Woman’s Administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives and a student-athlete.”
The 10 current Horizon League member schools are: Cleveland State; Detroit Mercy; Wisconsin-Green Bay; Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Northern Kentucky; Oakland; Illinois-Chicago (UIC); Wright State; and Youngstown State.
On March 12, the Wright State University Department of Athletics released the following statement:
“As always, Wright State Athletics is committed to the welfare and safety of our student-athletes. Their health and well-being, along with that of our coaches and staff, is paramount. Wright State is closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and continuing to follow direction from federal, state and local authorities to make decisions based on the most up-to-date information available.”
Earlier on March 12, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors announced the cancelations of all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This includes the 2020 National Invitation Tournament, which was slated to include the Wright State men’s basketball team. The NCAA coordinates and operates both the NIT and NCAA Tournament.