CLEVELAND — *EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video is from a previous story.
Cleveland State University announced Wednesday it has "temporarily paused all team activity" involving the men's basketball program due to an unspecified number of positive COVID-19 cases among players and staff.
The Vikings will be unable to practice or play in games for at least 10 days. As such, their upcoming contests against No. 2-ranked Duke on Dec. 18 and versus Kent State on Dec. 21 have been canceled and will not be made up.
Athletic Director Scott Garrett released the following statement:
"Throughout the pandemic we have prioritized the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff while training and competing. Coach [Dennis] Gates and the team have been extremely diligent in adhering to our protocols as well as deploying other proactive risk mitigation strategies. After consultation with our training staff and the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Center, we are pausing team activity and will reassess in 10 days. While we are disappointed, it is clear this is the responsible course of action."
The defending Horizon League Tournament champions, 6-3 CSU most recently played Monday night in a heartbreaking 98-93 overtime loss to Big 12 opponent Oklahoma State. Saturday's trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium would've been their first-ever matchup against the Blue Devils, who are playing their final season under legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Like most teams last season, the Vikings had multiple games either canceled or postponed on their way to the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Horizon League has ruled schools with COVID outbreaks will have to forfeit any missed games, but that does not apply in this case since they are out-of-conference matchups.
This past weekend, Cleveland State's women's basketball team had its game against Akron postponed due to coronavirus issued within its own program. The team is scheduled to resume play this Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center against Hofstra.
For the moment, the men's team is set to get back to practice around Christmas time before playing IUPUI Dec. 30 in its conference opener.