CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Southern Utah University Athletic Department has announced that the 2020-21 men’s and women’s basketball seasons will begin without spectators, due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This difficult decision will be enforced through at least December 31, 2020, and will be revisited at a later date for contests happening in 2021.
Several factors went into the decision-making process, including the rising case numbers in the state of Utah and SUU’s commitment to the health and well-being of its student-athletes, coaches, staff, faculty, student population and the larger Cedar City community.
“This was an incredibly tough decision to make, and we will miss having our fans in the America First Event Center,” said SUU Director of Athletics Debbie Corum. “Ultimately, we felt it was vital to ensure we will be able to hold a basketball game safely without fans before we can add them into the equation. Our staff has been working so hard to keep the health and safety of all those involved at the forefront of everything we do, and will continue to do so with the hope that we can reopen the arena in January.”
A coaches and players pass list will be available for the Thunderbirds that will allow four direct family members to attend the event, which has become common in the current landscape while limiting attendance.
All Southern Utah home games will stream live on PlutoTV and www.WatchBigSky.com, and will be available over the airwaves on KSUB 590 AM.
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Story courtesy of SUU Athletics
Photo by: Mitch Quartz
