KU announces plan to allow fans at games in Allen Fieldhouse through Jan. 2

By Matt Tait     Dec 17, 2020

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) cruises in for a bucket on a fast break during the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas Athletics announced Thursday that the Pandemic Medical Advisory Team would continue to allow a limited number of fans inside Allen Fieldhouse through at least Jan. 2.

KU’s men are scheduled to play host to West Virginia on Tuesday and welcome Texas to town on Jan. 2 for its first game of 2021. Both games will be played in front of a maximum of 2,500 fans, the same number that was allowed at the venue for KU’s home victories over Creighton and Omaha last week.

The KU women’s team, which had two games called off this week because of COVID-19, are currently scheduled to host three games during that time frame — Dec. 21 vs. North Dakota State, Dec. 29 vs. New Mexico State and Jan. 2 vs. West Virginia.

The KU-Texas men’s game is set for 11 a.m. on Jan. 2. Tip time has not yet been announced for the KU-WVU women’s game that day.

KU Athletic Director Jeff Long said Thursday, during a Zoom call with reporters, that decisions about attendance at Allen Fieldhouse for both men’s and women’s basketball games would continue to be made on a weekly basis in January.

“Meetings are already scheduled,” Long said Thursday, noting that the upcoming holidays would not affect KU’s ability to evaluate its plans.

Long said the advisory team makes its decisions based on the numbers of positive tests in Douglas County, the number of hospital beds taken in Lawrence and Kansas City and the number of respirators being used.

“They monitor it closely,” Long noted. “(And) they make decisions based on trends and what they see happening with the virus.”

Long also said Kansas Athletics employees are closely monitoring the behavior of the fans who attend KU’s home games, as well. So far, he has liked what he’s seen.

“Our fans have been outstanding wearing their masks,” Long said. “That’s a key to this. We always want to do better, (but) our students have been very good wearing masks in the games. Not only do I think our procedures are going well, more importantly, the Pandemic Medical Advisory Team’s observation of our protocols, our procedures, our monitoring, our making sure we remind fans to keep their mask on, put their mask back on if they take them off, are going very well. If they don’t, it’s one of the things (PMAT) will take into account when they allow us to have fans.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.