WSU’s basketball season over, Jaime Echenique’s career ends after NCAA cancels tourney
There will be no postseason play for the Wichita State men’s basketball team, which means a 23-8 season is over, as is the collegiate career of senior Jaime Echenique.
That was the devastating domino effect Thursday because of concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, as first the American Athletic Conference canceled its basketball tournament and then the NCAA followed with news that it was canceling its remaining winter and spring championships.
“This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” the NCAA said in a statement.
Despite the AAC Tournament being canceled, there was an outside hope to some in the college basketball community that Selection Sunday would go on unaffected with the tournament being postponed. But the Shockers won’t have to wait on Sunday to see if their 23-8 season would have been good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine years.
Echenique said he desperately wanted to play in March Madness before leaving WSU, but that dream will go unfulfilled. According to those within the program, the senior was heartbroken upon hearing the news.
“It’s not the way that I expected to finish the season, this really hurts me,” Echenique tweeted out. “But our health is a priority right now. To all of the fans (best ones in the world), family, coaches and WSU staff, thank you to make my senior day special.”
Echenique and the Shockers had already been in Fort Worth, Texas for almost a full day, preparing to play its first game in Friday’s quarterfinals. But when their Thursday morning weightlifting session was interrupted with the news that the AAC Tournament had been canceled, they suspected the NCAA Tournament could very well follow suit.
College basketball’s cancellations followed after the events of Wednesday evening, when the National Basketball Association decided to suspend its season after a player tested positive for the coronavirus.
“In view of what happened with the NBA and in view of the progressive nature of this virus and the pandemic nature and the fact that the curve is unfortunately still going up,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said in a news conference. “And the fact where you could have a situation where evidence shows up afterward of a student-athlete having this and then a lot of other student-athletes could potentially be exposed.
“We just felt like the risk was not worth it in view of what we were dealing with, so ultimately we made that decision.”
Fans who purchased tickets for the AAC Tournament are encouraged to contact their point of purchase to receive a full refund.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 11:17 AM.
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