LAS VEGAS — Sports Director Brenna Greene went one-on-one with WSU AD Pat Chun at the Pac-12 Tournament after the news broke that fans were being banned from the event.
Q: What has today been like from your perspective?
A: "It's probably one the most historic days in sports history, or world history. It's been a day of a lot of phone calls and lot of decisions. Our university had to make a tough decision relative to taking the first part of the semester online distance learning. Campus will still be open. The biggest thing for us is what's going on with this basketball tournament and we have a Pac-12 baseball series this weekend. We're always going to do what's best for our students and our student athletes but it's been a pretty surreal day. The world's changed so much since we woke up this morning."
Q: What was your reaction when you found out fans weren't going to be allowed?
A: "You could see what was happening this morning. Maybe the Big Ten came out first and then the email and the calls started to come through. I've been talking to our president all day. Once you're going down this road, you know that everyone is going to have to think and behave and be very comfortable with being uncomfortable. These are unprecedented times and we're going to have to make some tough decisions. The right decision isn't always the easy decision. Washington State's 100% supportive of the measures taken by the Pac-12 Conference to ensure additional safety measures for all the participants and fans involved in this Pac-12 Tournament."
Q: What went into the decision to still keep playing Pac-12 sports?
A: "I think it's all fluid at the end of the day. At this juncture, where we sit tonight at 3/11 on Wednesday night, the best thing for our league is to continue going with this tournament. At least tonight with as many fans in the arena and then tomorrow go with restricted access to the games. I would assume by the way this week has gone that everything's day to day at this point."
Q: What is your reaction when you see something like Rudy Gobert having Coronavirus and how anybody your athletes interact with could possibly get it?
A: "Well,.first of all a lot of prayers to Rudy Gobert because that is not something anybody wants to go through. Really it's a great reminder that you could be a big, strong, high profile athlete and if you contract this illness it obviously doesn't pick and choose who gets it. There's reminders everyday, especially when you live in the state of Washington. We've been at the front lines of everything going on with COVID-19. These are scary times. We just want to make sure that we're doing our part. That our student athletes, our staff, our coaches have sanitary habits and try to manage our way through this.