Pat Chun speaks about changes to athletics

“We have no foreseeable start date,” WSU Athletic Director
Pat Chun said.

He spoke about the future of spring football season and WSU
athletics in the era of COVID-19 during a press conference Friday. Chun said
WSU are one of three college football teams that did not have a single spring
practice and for now it will remain that way.

Currently there is no “drop dead date” when a decision must
be made about the spring football season starting or ending, Chun said.

“We are preparing our coaches to just really think about
what the new normal could look like,” he said.

Any mandates from the state and federal government
supersedes any plans the NCAA could make for spring football practice, Chun
said.

In the state of Washington there is currently a mandate
against gatherings of over 50 people. As of 2019, the football team listed 124
participants not including coaches and staff. 

At the moment, the department’s biggest concern is
transitioning athletes to online classes, Chun said.

With the changes, he said the athletic department is in
“triage mode.” The department does not know what to expect before anything
happens. They are thinking about what it will be like for student athletes to
start online classes as many student athletes have never taken online courses
before.

Sports should be the secondary focus for student athletes
right now, he said. The department encourages student athletes to stay at their
place of permanent residents like the rest of the students on campus.

“We have to do our part to flatten this curve. We have to
practice social distancing,” Chun said. “We are responsible citizens, so really
all of our messaging for student athletes is centered around being a global
citizen.”

Besides keeping student athletes safe, Chun will also
monitor what it means for the athletic department to not receive profits from
NCAA March Madness. At the moment, there are no concrete numbers from the
Pac-12 or NCAA about money WSU could be losing. However, the department is
preparing for it, he said.

Chun also said he felt especially empathetic to senior
spring student athletes who were ready for the season. The department will
continue to support all student athletes who choose to stay longer at WSU to
finish out the extra eligibility granted by the NCAA.

Last week, the NCAA announced it would be extending all spring sport athletes an extra season of eligibility because their entire season has been affected by the virus.

At this time, the NCAA also suspended all on campus recruiting
until April 15.