NORTH CAROLINA, USA — NC State leaders are calling it a punch to the gut.
The baseball team was just one win shy of playing for the schools first national title in any team sport in decades.But they were robbed of the opportunity because eight players tested positive with the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.
NC State Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan and Chancellor Randy Woodson virtually met with Jeff Gravley to talk about what went wrong on the communications front. They posted the meeting on its website.
"It's just painful," Corrigan said. "Do I wish there was greater transparency? Sure. I sure do. A press release at 2:40 in the morning is tough. We put out something at 8:30 a.m. and came back with something else at 5:30 p.m. to further explain it, but some of it is just really hard to explain."
Overnight Friday, the NCAA said NC State would not be allowed to continue in the tournament after a total of eight players tested positive for COVID-19.
We now know they have the highly contagious Delta variant.
"I've certainly already had some preliminary conversations with the leadership of NCAA about making sure we're transparent," Chancellor Woodson said. "We understand the results, believe me there's no questioning the results we understand the gravity of eight players testing positive especially with the Delta variant."
They said four of the eight players who tested positive were vaccinated.
Dr. Cynthia Snider with Cone Health said that can happen, but symptoms are likely to be much milder.
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"We are seeing folks who are fully vaccinated getting the virus, getting COVID-19, however it still appears to be a mild disease and that's what we anticipate for the vaccine."
NC State leadership said they understand the decision, but that doesn't mean they like it.
"Really for me the, it's just the heartbroken nature of the way this ended for one of the most magical teams this university has ever experienced," Woodson said.