Stanford sports teams continue to be impacted by health and safety protocols within their respective programs. Men’s basketball’s (8-4, 1-1 Pac-12) Saturday match against No. 7 USC (12-0, 2-0 Pac-12) was postponed; COVID-19 issues within the Oregon State women’s basketball (7-3, 4-0 Pac-12) program prompted the postponement of their Sunday match against No. 2 Stanford (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) and the wrestling team’s (1-2, 0-0 Pac-12) duel against California Baptist on Sunday was canceled.
This is the fourth straight schedule change for men’s basketball. Stanford was slated to play Vanderbilt in the championship of the Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 25, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Stanford program and was declared a no contest. Now, all three of the Cardinal’s games thus far in 2022 — all conference matchups — have been postponed. The Pac-12 maintains that it will work with each team to reschedule the games this season, although it is unclear where three games will fit into the schedule.
Stanford Athletics spokesperson Zach Reynolds declined to provide the number of Stanford men’s basketball players in isolation, but wrote that the team “[has] not met the minimum roster requirements as set by the Pac-12.”
The conference requires that each team has at least seven scholarship players available in order for a matchup to take place as planned.
If enough players are able to return within the next few days, the men’s basketball team will take to the court in Pullman on Jan. 12 for a matchup against Washington State (8-5, 1-1 Pac-12).
While basketball has faced numerous cancellations thus far, the wrestling team’s Sunday matchup is the first of the season to be impacted by COVID-19 protocols. Stanford Athletics spokesperson Regina Verlengiere also did not provide the number of wrestlers currently available in accordance with health and safety protocols. The Cardinal are slated to host Little Rock (0-2, 0-0 Pac-12) in Maples Pavilion on Jan. 15 if enough athletes are available.
Women’s basketball is facing its second postponement of the season, although neither has been due to health and safety protocols within the Stanford program. The team’s Pac-12 opener in Seattle on Dec. 31 was postponed after Washington faced COVID-19 issues within the Huskies program, and now health and safety protocols within the Oregon State program have derailed this weekend’s agenda. Oregon (7-4, 0-0 Pac-12) is still slated to travel to Maples Pavilion on Jan. 7 to take on the Cardinal.
The schedule updates come after Stanford announced temporary changes in its attendance policy for both indoor and outdoor sports. Only family members of student-athletes are permitted at indoor sporting events, whereas the number of fans will be limited, and they will be required to be socially distanced and to wear masks for all outdoor sporting events. The University did not set an end date for the attendance policies, only saying that “full spectator attendance for all events will resume as soon as appropriate” in a press release on Tuesday.