After postponing spring sports seasons and closing the Sun Belt Championship Tournaments on Thursday, the Sun Belt announced on Monday that spring sports will not resume for the 2020 season.
According to a tweet from the official Sun Belt Twitter account, all conference sports activities are canceled through the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19.
“The Sun Belt Conference has announced that the league is canceling all organized athletics-related activities, incuding regular-season competitions, conference championships and practices, through the remainder of the academic year,” the tweet said.
The announcement came after men’s and women’s basketball had their Sun Belt Championship Tournaments canceled over the weekend. Texas State seniors Nijal Pearson and Eric Terry saw their historic careers cut short as the team looked to defeat No. 2 South Alabama in the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday.
Pearson, who became the program’s all-time scoring leader in his final season, helped lead the team to the No. 3 seed and a quarterfinal victory over Appalachian State on Wednesday, March 11.
In the wake of basketball’s postseason cancellation, Texas State baseball, softball, track, golf and tennis will have their seasons scut short as well.
Spring practices for fall sports such as football, volleyball and soccer are also canceled as the nation looks to prevent the spread of the virus in large gatherings.
The decision came after high-ranking Sun Belt officials came together to take preventative action, according to the tweet.
“The decision was made in consultation with the league’s Presidents, Chancellors and Directors of Athletics to address growing concerns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19),” the tweet said.
Sports programs across the nation are shutting down their seasons, playing in front of empty arenas and postponing play to promote social distancing and prevent more COVID-19 infections from occurring. Sun Belt and Texas State athletes are some of the thousands of athletes who will see their seasons and even careers end prematurely.
The University Star’s COVID-19 coverage can be found here.