North Carolina players and team managers released an apology on Tuesday after a video showing several players spending without masks after Saturday’s victory over Duke forced Monday’s game against Miami to be postponed.
Two hours before Monday’s men’s basketball game between Miami and North Carolina in Chapel Hill, ACC announced that both teams had agreed to postpone the game. The decision came hours after The Daily Tar Heel, a North Carolina student newspaper, posted a Snapchat video showing UNC Day’Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot booths partying without masks, along with other young men who were not wearing masks on Saturday after UNC’s 91-87 victory over Duke.
In Tuesday’s apology, North Carolina players and managers said Bacot and Sharpe are not alone.
“On Saturday night, a number of players and managers – not just those shown in the video that was seen – gathered to celebrate our victory at the Duke,” the statement said. “Our intention was to celebrate privately in our group. Unfortunately, we allowed several friends who are not members of the team to join the assembly. We were inside and we were not wearing masks, which were mistakes.
“We apologize for not following the guidelines of the university and the athletics department and we apologize to Coach Williams and his staff for not stepping forward when he first approached her on Sunday with us. I worked too hard for eight months doing the right things to make mistakes at this time of the season. We hope to be able to play again soon and we want to remind everyone to stay safe so that this pandemic ends as soon as possible. “
In the short video released by The Daily Tar Heel, Sharpe and Bacot, who combined to score 27 points in their victory over their main rivals on Saturday, are shown with several people in one room as the music plays. in the background.
While the league’s statement did not provide specifics, the ACC’s health and safety protocols list several reasons for postponing a game, including “inability to properly track contacts in accordance with government requirements or recommendations” and “inability to isolate new positive cases, or to quarantine high-risk cases of contact of college students traveling and home. “
Roy Williams said in a statement that he was glad that his players and managers had apologized.
“I appreciate the players who have apologized,” Williams said in a statement. “They made a mistake. They’ve been fantastic for more than eight months in how they’ve handled the whole situation with the virus. But they realize they’ve made a mistake, for which they pay a very significant price.”
The school did not say how Saturday’s video could have an impact on games beyond Monday’s game with Miami.