The Basketball Tournament is "full-steam ahead" despite the coronavirus, one of the teams' general managers said Tuesday.
Boeheim Army general manager Kevin Belbey told the Syracuse Post-Standard that the summer basketball event in which dozens of teams get together to battle for a $2 million prize is still planning to move forward.
"They're full-steam ahead," Belbey told the newspaper. "It'll be interesting because I would think that if the TBT dates don't change at all, they could overlap with the NBA playoffs, NBA Finals and the Olympics. So there's going to be a lot of competition on at that time. We're making plans for our team, we're making plans for the regional in Syracuse.
According to the paper, TBT organizers had a teleconference Tuesday morning to discuss contingency plans.
"We are currently proceeding as planned," executive vice president Jen Todd told the Post-Standard. "We're thinking we're small and nimble enough so we don't have to make a decision really soon. But the news cycle is so fast, it's hard to keep up."
The Basketball Tournament was founded in 2014 and has given $2 million to the champion since 2016. Overseas Elite, comprising mostly former college stars now playing overseas, won the championship four straight years from 2015 to 2018. They suffered their first loss in the competition last season, to eventual champion Carmen's Crew, a team made up of former Ohio State players.