Hawaii athletics: So far, home events open to public as scheduled

UPDATE: Things moved quickly, as by noon Thursday the NCAA had canceled March Madness and then all spring sports championships.

The threat of a spreading coronavirus has caused a cascade of closures of athletic events worldwide, and especially within the U.S. in the last 24 hours.

The NCAA Tournament followed suit with the Big West tournament and other events in announcing the drastic measure of barring the public from its upcoming games.

Hawaii men’s volleyball could play before no crowds on its current road trip. At least one conference, the Ivy League, has taken the step of canceling spring sports entirely. Stanford University has barred the public from its events through May 15.

So far, the University of Hawaii has not announced any restrictions for events it hosts.

A UH spokesman said as of noon Wednesday, all home sporting events this week — men’s and women’s tennis, softball and baseball — are on as scheduled with full access for spectators.

The Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational is underway at Kaneohe Klipper for the Rainbow Wahine golf team. UH softball team plays a doubleheader against Texas Tech and Minnesota on Wednesday night, and follows with games through Saturday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The women’s tennis team hosts afternoon matches Wednesday and Thursday and men’s tennis plays Thursday and Saturday at the UH Tennis Complex.

And baseball hosts Chicago State for a four-game series across three days from Friday to Sunday.

UPDATE: KHON2 reports that Hawaii Pacific will not welcome fans for its NCAA II West Regional women’s basketball tournament this weekend.

This post will be updated with any subsequent announcements by UH.