Baylor's Scott Drew Tests Positive for COVID-19; Jerome Tang Named Interim HC

The Baylor men's basketball team will be without head coach Scott Drew for the start of the 2020-21 season after he announced Sunday that he tested positive for COVID-19.

Drew said the positive result is from Friday's teamwide testing but he is asymptomatic and self-isolating. He also said it was Baylor's first positive test in 12 weeks, so the season is still on as scheduled. The rest of the team tested negative Friday and Sunday.

Associate head coach Jerome Tang, who has been with Drew throughout his tenure at Baylor, will be the interim coach.

Baylor, which is No. 2 in the country in the initial Associated Press Top 25 rankings, is scheduled to start the season Wednesday against Arizona State. However, Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported the Sun Devils are pulling out of the matchup because of medical concerns with the Bears:

Drew is not the only notable figure in the sport impacted by the pandemic.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim were among those who tested positive for COVID-19 leading up to the season. What's more, Seton Hall paused all team activities because of positive tests, while Goodman reported Florida is not expected to play its first two games of the season because of COVID-19.

Most notably, the Ivy League—which served as a harbinger of sorts for March Madness cancellations in the spring—canceled all winter sports for the 2020-21 season because of the pandemic.

Cancellations and postponements have become a weekly occurrence in college football this season, and there have already been a number of issues on the basketball side even before the opening tipoffs.

Drew has been at Baylor since the 2003-04 season and has a 344-213 record with eight NCAA tournament appearances and a Big 12 Coach of the Year award on his resume. The Bears went 26-4 last season and would have been a threat to make a deep tournament run if it wasn't canceled.