Maine men’s basketball team, citing COVID-19 related issues, opts out of rest of season – ESPN

Maine's men's basketball team has opted out of the rest of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 issues, the school announced Saturday.

The team made its decision Friday, with the school's president and athletic director supporting the decision.

"Our players' safety and well-being will always come first," Maine coach Richard Barron said. "We simply could not safely put a team on the floor over the next few weeks or safely return players to playing after over six weeks off. Despite the challenges we've faced this year, we remain grateful for the opportunities we have here at UMaine and eagerly look forward to representing Black Bear Nation again soon."

The Black Bears played nine games this season, but haven't played or practiced since Jan. 17 and were 2-7 overall before announcing its season was over.

Maine is the second team this week to opt out of the remainder of its season, following Howard's announcement earlier this week. Bethune-Cookman, Chicago State and Maryland-Eastern Shore are the other schools to opt out of this season, as well as the entire Ivy League.

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Maine men's basketball team, citing COVID-19 related issues, opts out of rest of season - ESPN