COVID-19 impacts West Virginia athletics, situation remains fluid

That is no different at West Virginia where the football program is in the midst of spring practice and the plan is to continue that today before spring break begins.

The players that do leave are expected to be welcomed back the following Sunday, but of course that could change as well.

The biggest key has been providing information to players and those from areas that have been hit with heavy infection rates are suggested to remain in Morgantown. Even those that do elect to leave have to understand that with how fast things change it could alter return depending on developments.

Still, as a whole Brown expects that many of the student athletes will remain in Morgantown which officials feel good about being a safe environment.

“We’ve tried to stay in front of this the best we can. We’ve had multiple team meetings, education, our medical people have addressed them,” head coach Neal Brown. “We’ve stayed ahead of this; we’ve taken a lot of precautions but it’s fluid.”

Now, that information is subject to change as the landscape of college athletics are affected by the pandemic with the basketball program already feeling it with the cancellation of the Big 12 tournament.

The Mountaineers will continue to adhere to the recommendations of the medical staff as they navigate the changing climate that this pandemic has caused.

In terms of recruiting, the football program is expected to handle off-campus visits on a case-by-case basis while the Mountaineers will be restricting visits on campus starting today and moving forward. That policy as well could be adjusted depending on what unfolds.

“Going to do our best to keep you updated as best we can,” Brown said.

For now, administrators will continue to monitor other sports such as baseball and gymnastics with looking at the time-frame through the end of March. For now, decisions in April won’t be made until further down the line as the process proceeds.

West Virginia is currently scheduled to host the spring game April 18.

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