Maryland-Eastern Shore will opt out of all spring sports, including men's and women's basketball, due to concerns about the coronavirus, the school announced on Thursday.
It's the second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference school to cancel sports in 2020-2021. Earlier this year, Bethune Cookman announced that it would also opt out of men's and women's basketball and other spring sports because of the coronavirus.
"As we approached the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference deadline for a decision on our participation in the 20-21 athletic year, it became clear that the responsible position would be to forego this athletic season," Dr. Heidi M Anderson, the school's president, said in a statement. "The health and safety of our student athletes, our coaches and our staff will always be our top priority."
The school's release said that it had implemented procedures and protocols but "athletic competition at its core is not socially distant," which created more challenges. Maryland Eastern-Shore finished 4-12 in the MEAC last season. The Hawks also played one of the last games of the 2019-2020 season: a 68-64 loss to Delaware State two days before the NCAA tournament was canceled.