McCaffery: Hawkeyes Understand Big Ten's Decision
INDIANAPOLIS — Fran McCaffery said that as much as it hurt, his players understood why the Big Ten tournament was cancelled on Thursday morning.
And they’ll understand if the same thing happens to the NCAA tournament.
“I think if we come to the conclusion based on the advice of health officials that that’s what has to be done, we do it,” the Iowa coach said in an interview on ESPN Thursday afternoon. “I think a lot of us feel like that’s where we’re headed.”
The Hawkeyes (20-11 overall, 11-9 Big Ten) were the fifth seed in the conference tournament, set for Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They were scheduled to play 12th seed Minnesota at 1:30 p.m. (CDT) on Thursday.
But almost three hours before the game would have started, the Big Ten announced the tournament had been cancelled over concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus.
McCaffery said his team didn’t have any fear about playing in the game, but Wednesday’s announcement that the NBA was suspending its season, coupled with the illness suffered by Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg during the Huskers’ Big Ten tournament game against Indiana, was “probably the first true wake-up call.”
“I really think for most of the time it was, ‘I hope we get to play,’” McCaffery said. “The last, say, eight hours, it was like, ‘Let’s get this thing figured out.’”
McCaffery suggested the possibility of postponing the NCAA tournament until a later date.
“I would still err on the side of ‘Hey, if we can do this thing in May…,’” McCaffery said. “ I think it would be terrific. I think it would be a lot of fun. I think it would get unbelievable ratings. People would have just as much interest.
“Right now, we’re trying to get through the next day, and maybe the next week, before we can come to any conclusion.”
McCaffery said at least a two-week preparation period would be necessary for teams, and a later start would impact players who would want to go through the NBA draft process.
McCaffery and Iowa athletics director Gary Barta met with the team Thursday morning to talk about the Big Ten’s decision.
“It was like, ‘OK, we get it. It’s a gut-punch. We’re phenomenally disappointed,’” McCaffery said. “All of the families were arriving in town last night and this morning to watch their sons play in the Big Ten tournament. Excited to play next week in the NCAA tournament. And we decided to shut it down. We’re dealing with it, we’re still getting information as it comes in, and we’ll do the best we can to get through it.”
McCaffery told his players, though, that if the season is over they could be proud of what they had accomplished.
“Let’s evaluate our body of work,” he said. “I am proud of that. They should be proud of that. We all wish we could continue. At least it didn’t happen at the start of the year and we got to play this season. And hopefully we’ll get to play next season.”
