Founders Park was supposed to be busy Friday night with the first SEC game of 2020. Earlier this week, that was expected with attendance for the game limited to just essential personnel and family members.
But a lot has happened in just a few days. Late Friday afternoon, the SEC announced that all sports-related activities would be postponed at least through April 15 in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus. That includes team activities and practices.
Tanner says he spoke to several of his coaches who expressed surprise that everything is essentially shut down.
“I’ll tell you, I think some of the coaches are really shocked. It’s something we haven’t experienced before. It’s like, ‘What do we do now?’ We first came out we’d be allowed to practice,” Tanner said.
“We quickly got past that. Now there’s no activity at all. They were surprised, but they wanted to do the right thing. What’s the right thing to do? Where we are is the right thing to do.”
Tanner said one Gamecock student-athlete has been tested for the coronavirus, while another athlete is in a self-quarantine after visiting a Level 3 zone which is an area not recommended for someone to travel.
Tanner also said he was surprised the NCAA announced that all spring sports championships would be cancelled considering the College World Series for baseball and the Women's College World Series for softball is still months away.