Fifth annual SC Hoops Festival canceled because of coronavirus concerns
The fifth annual South Carolina Hoops Festival won’t go on as scheduled this weekend at Heathwood Hall.
Event organizer Carey Rich announced Wednesday afternoon that the event would be canceled. Rosters for the games were released to the public earlier Wednesday.
“After further consideration and out of concern for the coronavirus, we’ve decided to cancel the Fifth Annual South Carolina Hoops Festival. While we very excitedly looked forward to having some of South Carolina’s best boys and girls basketball players under one roof, safety and the well-being of our citizens remain of the utmost importance,” Rich said in a statement. “We’d like to thank Jeff Whalen and Heathwood Hall for their willingness to accommodate us but we feel very strongly that not having the event is the best decision.”
South Carolina basketball signees Ja’Von Benson and Patrick Iriel were among the players selected for the games. Benson and Iriel would have play in the boys’ Capital City Senior All-Star game along with USC football signee Jordan Burch.
There festival also included girls Capital City Senior All-Star game and boys and girls Junior Showcase games, which would have been with some of the top juniors around the state.
The cancellation of the event comes as states respond to the coronavirus pandemic. University of South Carolina has extended its spring break an additional week as a result of the rapidly-spreading coronavirus.
Spring break will now run through March 22, and no classes will be held during that time, USC officials said on the university’s website. Following that, all classes from March 23 to April 3 will be conducted virtually, the university said.
Gamecock athletic events will go on as scheduled, the athletic department announced Wednesday afternoon.
In less than a week, there have been nine confirmed or presumed cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).
As of Wednesday morning, there are no known coronavirus cases on USC’s campus, the university said.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
