NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the inevitable news Thursday afternoon that the NCAA will be canceling all remaining winter and spring postseason tournaments.

The cancelation was determined because of the continued outbreak of COVID-19 across the United States and the individual cancelation of conference basketball tournaments Wednesday afternoon. 

In a press release, Emmert stated that decision was made in part due to the NCAA’s ability to “ensure the events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during the academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”

The decisions of ongoing entities refers to, in part, the multiple universities across Iowa and the U.S. that announced the cancelation of in-person classes and athletic events.

The cancelation of all remaining postseason tournaments affects the NCAA men’s basketball, women’s basketball, wrestling and track and field postseason tournaments that were slated to take place over the coming weeks.

On Wednesday afternoon, Emmert released a statement originally stating the men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling tournaments would continue without fans in attendance, but the increasing number of power five conferences that canceled their individual basketball tournaments.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby also announced at an 11 a.m. press conference Thursday that the Big 12 will cancel its postseason basketball tournaments completely.

The Big 12 quickly followed suit after the Big 10, SEC and the AAC conferences announced their conference tournaments would be shut down immediately. The Pac-12 and the ACC put out statements as well, announcing the cancelation of their conference tournaments.

Outside of the college ranks, the NBA announced the remainder of the regular season will be suspended until further notice after Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19.

The announcement comes just one day after the first round of the men’s side of the Big 12 tournament, in which Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup and No. 10 Kansas State beat No. 7 TCU, witch were both played in front of fans. 

This article will be updated as more information is released.