Toledo shuts down basketball program amid COVID-19 outbreak

The Toledo men's basketball program is pausing all activities for two weeks after six players joined coach Tod Kowalczyk in testing positive for COVID-19.

Kowalczyk tested positive Sunday, and the six Rockets players tested positive Tuesday. The school said it is isolating those individuals and conducting contact tracing and additional testing for close contacts.

"Student-athlete health and safety is always our top priority and we are going to continue to follow the prevention protocols and ongoing testing procedures already in place," Toledo athletic director Mike O'Brien said in a statement. "The COVID-19 pandemic remains a serious challenge, and our primary focus will always be on ensuring our student-athletes' health. We look forward to our men's basketball program resuming its team activities."

The Rockets were 17-15, including 8-10 in Mid-American Conference play, when the 2019-20 season was stopped in March. Toledo finished third in the MAC West division and had reached the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament when the event was canceled due to the pandemic.

Kowalczyk, 54, is 184-144 in 10 seasons with Toledo and sports a 320-256 career record in 18 seasons with Toledo and Green Bay (2002-10).

--Field Level Media