Quinnipiac pauses program after positive COVID-19 test
Consistency and predictability, Quinnipiac men’s basketball coach Baker Dunleavy said on Monday, were not going to be hallmarks of the 2020-21 pandemic season.
On Tuesday, the Bobcats program was paused for a confirmed positive case of COVID-19.
This weekend’s two-game series against Iona and Rick Pitino has been postponed. That series itself was rescheduled into this window after the Gaels’ series with Monmouth was postponed.
“The health and safety of the Quinnipiac community remains paramount as Quinnipiac Athletics continues to follow university, local, state and national guidelines in response to the global pandemic,” a statement from the school said.
With the games at Quinnipiac postponed, Iona will instead play at Fairfield on Friday and Saturday nights at 7. Fairfield was scheduled to play Siena this weekend, but those games were postponed when Siena announced Tuesday it was pausing all activity because of a positive COVID test.
Friday’s game will air on ESPNU, as was the plan when it was scheduled to happen both at Monmouth and at Quinnipiac.
“It’s great exposure for the MAAC, and I think it’ll be a great game,” Fairfield athletic director Paul Schlickmann said.
“The opportunity for any of us to get on the ‘U’ is terrific. It just worked out on this one. We’re empathetic to Quinnipiac and Siena and how things are going for them. We’ve got to roll with it. That’s how we’re doing it as a league.”
Fairfield’s Siena series has not yet been rescheduled. Iona’s visit to Fairfield was originally set for Jan. 29-30.
“When we were putting together the league schedule, we thought through various things that could happen,” Schlickmann said, “and we agreed in advance that the commissioner had the flexibility and discretion to mix and match as things progressed. If teams were forced to go on pause, he had the ability to adjust on the fly.”
Quinnipiac women’s coach Tricia Fabbri said she spoke to Dunleavy before her team’s practice Tuesday morning.
“It’s very fragile,” Fabbri said. “Knowing how fragile it is, the conversations I’m having with my colleagues in the MAAC, we’re on a thread helping each other ... everyone is really grappling with the gravity of it.