The coronavirus impact has essentially ended the 2019-20 calendar sports year for Oklahoma.
After the Big 12 canceled the spring sports season due to the pandemic, football spring games remained up in the air. According to Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman, Big 12 conference athletic directors were scheduled to talk about the cancelation of spring football at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
I'm hearing Big 12 ADs are scheduled to meet via conference call on Wednesday. I would expect spring ball will be officially canceled tomorrow.
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) March 17, 2020
Nothing had been announced yet from the conference, but Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione was on air with Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman on 98.1 the Sports Animal in Oklahoma City when he decided to pull the plug.
FYI he announced this on @sportsanimal while on with Berry Tramel. Started out saying it would be very difficult to hold, then pivoted to it being called off. Said he would call Mike Houck when he hung up to draft a press release.
— Matt Ravis (@mattravis) March 18, 2020
Castiglione broke it unexpectedly during the segment while talking to Tramel.
“We’ll probably … I guess I’m announcing it right now,” he said. “Basically we’re saying the reality. There’s just not anyway we are going to have it. It’s hard to even say when and if we’ll be able to return to any type of practice in the next 30 to 45 days.”
The Sooners spring game was scheduled for April 18 at 5 p.m. CT. Oklahoma was set to unveil its Baker Mayfield’s Heisman Trophy statue inside the stadium during the game. The weekend of the spring game is also one of Lincoln Riley’s biggest recruiting opportunities with everything that comes with the spring game weekend.
Oklahoma’s athletic director went into his thinking behind it.
“I can just tell ya that while we have come out and announced the spring game, the date being April 18, being canceled, I don’t see any way that’s going to happen. I really don’t,” Castiglione said. “We’re sitting here looking at it from two different ways—one, obviously people are canceling all kinds of events for the next thirty or more days. So there’s one reason. The other reason is related to practice. I can’t sit here and tell you any team that is going to get back and have a normal practice. They just can’t do that. So to sit here and think that we’re going to have a spring game and not be able to even say when we’re going to return to practice is silly.
As SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey pointed out, this may not mean the end to football practice, although the likelihood of that happening also doesn’t seem too realistic.
Sankey: No spring football games does not mean no spring football practices. … But 'Not overly optimistic" about spring practices being conducted.
— Jerry Tipton (@JerryTipton) March 18, 2020
The Big 12 conference has yet to announce a league-wide cancelation of spring football or spring games yet.
Matt Ravis of 98.1 The Sports Animal contributed to this report.
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