Purdue Fort Wayne because the latest team to cancel a game with Dayton. It paused basketball activities Wednesday following positive COVID-19 tests within the program and won’t be able to play at UD Arena on Tuesday.
Grant has addressed the scheduling uncertainty within his team as it prepares for a 2 p.m. Saturday game against Southern Methodist. As of Thursday afternoon, that game remained on the schedule, though both teams will have to pass COVID-19 tests Friday before anyone will know for sure that it will get played.
“When you’re dealing with with young people, you want to make sure that they are mentally in a good place,” Grant said, “so we just talked about trying to control what we can control. The virus is kind of in control of some of the things that happen. So No. 1 is making sure we’re doing all we can to keep ourselves healthy and safe. We know the drill of wearing a mask and social distancing and washing our hands and trying to do everything we can when we’re together and when we’re apart from each other.”
Fort Wayne became the fourth team to cancel a game with Dayton because of positive COVID-19 tests. However, the schedule has been a work in progress all year. Here’s a timeline of the many changes.
Oct. 17, 2019: The Atlantic 10 and Mountain West announce a challenge series that includes a game between Dayton and Nevada on Dec. 6, 2020, in Reno, Nev.
Nov. 21, 2019: The Myrtle Beach Invitational reveals a 2020 field that includes Dayton, Charlotte, Loyola, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn, Pittsburgh and Utah State.
May 7, 2020: Dayton announces it will play Mississippi State on Dec. 12 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving event. At the same time, reports surface that Dayton will play Mississippi in Chicago in December.
May 28: Sullivan says the game in Chicago against Ole Miss is no longer on the schedule but that they will work to find another date and location.
June 1: Dayton and Ole Miss announce they will play at UD Arena on Dec. 19.
Sept. 15: Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports, reports the Myrtle Beach tournament will move to Orlando.
Sept. 16: The NCAA pushes the start of the season from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25.
Sept. 21: The A-10 and Mountain West postpone their series until the 2021-22 season.
Oct. 14: Dayton joins the field of the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in the Bahamas. Dayton learns it will play Wichita State on Nov. 25 in the first round.
Oct. 26: A number of tournaments, including the Myrtle Beach Invitational, that were scheduled to take place in Orlando are cancelled.
Nov. 6: One day after Ohio State withdraws from the Crossover Classic, Dayton makes the same decision.
Nov. 20: Dayton announces a tentative non-conference schedule that includes five games. At the same time, it announces it planned to play Bellarmine in the season opener Dec. 1 but will look to find a new opponent because Bellarmine had to go into quarantine.
Nov. 24: Dayton finds a new opponent for Dec. 1: Alcorn State.
Nov. 27: An exhibition game scheduled for Nov. 28 falls through because of positive COVID-19 tests at Cedarville University.
Nov. 28: Alcorn State announces it can’t play Dayton on Dec. 1 because of COVID-19 issues.
Nov. 30: Dayton finds a replacement for Alcorn State: Eastern Illinois.
Dec. 1: Dayton opens the season with a 66-63 victory against Eastern Illinois.
Dec. 2: Purdue Fort Wayne cancels its Dec. 8 game against Dayton because of COVID-19 issues.
“We will work through our contingency plans,” UD announced, “and share scheduling updates as they develop.”
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