UH players Brison Gresham (left), Caleb Mills (middle) and Quentin Grimes (right) watch the game against Cincinnati from the sidelines at Fertitta Center during 2019-20 season. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
The Houston men’s basketball program has paused all team-related activities due to recent positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, UH announced on Tuesday.
The Cougars were scheduled to play Sam Houston State and Rice this week, but both of those games have been “postponed,” UH said in a press release.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson (contact tracing) and assistant Kellen Sampson (positive test) missed Saturday’s game against South Carolina due to COVID-19 issues.
UH joins men’s programs such as No. 1 Gonzaga and former American Athletic Conference foe UConn as teams that have been forced to pause basketball activities due to coronavirus protocols.
The pause in basketball activities does not affect the UH women’s basketball team, but its most recent opponent Auburn, who the Cougars played last Saturday, had to postpone its game against Belmont due to coronavirus issues within the Tigers’ program.
The UH women’s team had its game against UT-Arlington canceled due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Mavericks’ program.
COVID-19 cases within the UH campus community have been spiking as of late. Over 30 cases have been reported within the past week alone, including 13 on campus.
Cases within the UH community have surpassed 300 since Aug. 17, the first day of residential move in. That number since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March has reached 476.
“These are challenging times, but the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans will always remain our main priority,” athletic director Chris Pezman said. “As we pause, I encourage all fans to remember to wear masks and socially distance at all times in your daily lives. Together, we will get through this.”
For more of The Cougar’s coronavirus coverage, click here.
