MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Best Virginia, a WVU men’s basketball alumni team, will not be playing in the $1 million winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (TBT) next month in Columbus, Ohio.
General manager John Flowers confirmed Monday that at least one player on the roster had tested positive for COVID-19 and the team opted to withdraw from the tournament, according to a statement from TBT officials.
“It’s disappointing,” Flowers said. “We wanted to be there, but it’s not going to happen this year.”
Flowers said the team was tested on June 15. According to the TBT statement, the organizers of the tournament were informed on June 18 of the positive test.
Best Virginia had earned the No. 10 overall seed in the 24-team field and was slated to play Herd That, an alumni team from Marshall, in the first round on July 5.
TBT officials said Best Virginia would be replaced by Playing for Jimmy V in the tournament.
Under the coronavirus pandemic, TBT had already lowered its field from 64 teams to 24 for this year’s tournament and had placed strict testing guidelines for each participating team.
Teams were to be tested prior to traveling to Columbus and would be tested again once arriving. Players would be tested a third time before playing their first-round game. Best Virginia was originally scheduled to travel to Ohio on June 30.
According to TBT’s guidelines, any positive test from a player would eliminate the entire team from this year’s tournament.
In a statement released by Flowers, he said no symptoms were visible from the positive player and “all parties at our recent practices were notified, as well as the appropriate local health agencies, and our players and staff were tested.”
TBT is in it’s seventh season and the games next month will be televised by ESPN.
Best Virginia first competed last year and lost in the second round to Overseas Elite.
Flowers said he expects Best Virginia will be back for the 2021 tournament.
“For sure we’ll be back,” he said.
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