Villanova men's basketball pauses, postpones three games due to COVID-19

The men's basketball program of the Villanova Wildcats announced on Monday that it is going back on pause because of COVID-19 issues. 

As a result, the Big East has postponed Villanova's upcoming games against the DePaul Blue Demons (Tuesday), the Marquette Golden Eagles (Friday), and the Xavier Musketeers (Jan. 13). The Wildcats remain scheduled to face the UConn Huskies on Jan. 15. 

As Jeff Borzello explained for ESPN, Villanova originally paused last week after head coach Jay Wright tested positive for the coronavirus but had returned to practice on Sunday. The Wildcats haven't competed since notching an 85-68 win over Marquette on Dec. 23 that improved them to 8-1 on the season. Villanova is ranked No. 3 in the country. 

"We are obviously going through a tough time right now in our program," Wright said in the prepared statement. "We had quarantined for 10 days with nine consecutive days of negative tests for all players. On the 11th day of our quarantine we practiced together, for the first time (Sunday). We test every day before practice. So, today we were getting ready to practice and head to DePaul this afternoon, and we learned we had two positive tests from players. That immediately shuts us down and puts us into a 10-day quarantine at least. That's what we know exactly at this time. We're in that mode of trying to figure that out."

Wright also offered an update on his health: 

"I feel great. I am ready to come out of quarantine tomorrow. I tested positive on Dec. 26. It had nothing to do with the players - it was me. Because I tested positive on the 26th, we went back to the 23rd, which was the last time we were all together at Marquette. We weren't together on the 24th or 25th, even when the players met with their families. The players went into quarantine while I was in isolation. We had them in a hotel in individual rooms from the 26th to Jan. 2. They were isolated. No players did anything wrong. A couple of staff members tested positive on the 26th and 27th but they weren't with the players. The virus can show itself within 14 days so that is something we are looking at."