Are Vanderbilt players — even vaccinated — susceptible to COVID-19 in CWS final after NC State exit?
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COVID-19 has cleared the way for Vanderbilt baseball to play for the national title, but it could also impact players’ availability in the championship series.
The NCAA declared a no-contest for Saturday’s College World Series bracket final, and North Carolina State was sent home because of COVID-19 protocols.
D1Baseball.com reported that four vaccinated NC State players who played or were available to play during Friday’s game against Vanderbilt tested positive for COVID-19.
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Those positive tests and contact tracing trimmed the NC State roster to where it could not continue playing.
NC State had 13 available players for Friday’s game because of COVID-19, and all except pitcher Cooper King played in the game. That means players infected with COVID-19 were in contact with Vanderbilt players.
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin even hugged NC State coach Elliott Avent before the game.
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Vanderbilt advances to the best-of-three championship series, beginning Monday, against the Mississippi State-Texas winner. But the circumstances of NC State’s exit could complicate COVID-19 protocols for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt declined to say how many of its players and coaches are vaccinated or comment on its approach to COVID-19 protocols, deferring to guidelines of the university and the NCAA.
Vanderbilt requires all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated for the 2021-22 academic year, which begins Aug. 25. That would include baseball coaches, staff and players returning for the fall semester. Medical and religious exemptions can be requested.
But even if Vanderbilt players are already vaccinated, they could still be at risk of infection and therefore unavailable to play.
The NCAA’s COVID-19 championship policy requires unvaccinated players and coaches to undergo routine testing. But fully vaccinated players and coaches with no COVID-19 symptoms may be exempt from routine testing.
NC State’s four additional positive tests came from team-wide testing of players who played against Vanderbilt after its initial two positive tests, D1Baseball.com reported.
Vanderbilt spokesman Alan George declined to say whether Commodores players or coaches had undergone a COVID-19 test since the NC State game.
After Friday’s game, Avent said it wasn’t his place to tell players to get vaccinated.
“My job is to teach them baseball, make sure they get an education and keep them on the right track forward,” Avent said. “But I don’t try to indoctrinate my kids with my values or my opinions. Obviously, we talk about a lot of things, but these are young men that can make their own decisions. And that’s what they did.”
On Saturday, NC State athletics director Boo Corrigan said, “The health and safety of our student-athletes and staff will always be our unwavering priority. The timing of this is simply devastating for everyone involved.”
Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Are Vanderbilt players — even vaccinated — susceptible to COVID-19 in CWS final after NC State exit?