The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has made what they called the “difficult” decision to cancel the upcoming Division 1 and 2 basketball championship tournaments, in addition to all spring competitions across the country, effective Monday, March 16th.
The decision put an end to the men’s basketball season at North Central Missouri College, which had hoped to play in the D-2 tournament in Danville, Illinois. The coronavirus pandemic had postponed the tournament, originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, March 17th; to April 20th. Now, the questions of “What If?” will be a part of the legacy of the 2019-2020 Pirates, a team that spent seven weeks as the #1 team in the country from mid-December to early February, and took a 28-3 into the national tournament, winners of back-to-back Region XVI championships and a two-point triumph at Arkansas State Mid-South on March 7th.
The NJCAA decision will also short-circuit the softball and baseball seasons at North Central Missouri College, both of which had started well. The association indicates that, “regarding spring sports eligibility”, NO spring sport student-athlete who was enrolled at a member college in 2020 will be charged a year of participation.
Along with the cancellation of competition, all on and off-campus recruiting for all sports will be halted until April 15th with further evaluation to be assessed at that point in time.
