Jayden Seales and Nyeem Young have signed CPL deals with Trinbago Knight Riders and Babardos Tridents respectively following impressive campaigns in the U-19 World Cup.

Seales and Young were among 20 players in a pool of 'emerging' cricketers named by CWI at the start of March, and have both been signed by their native teams.

Kimani Melius, another member of the West Indies squad at that competition, has signed for St Lucia Zouks, while Kevin Sinclair has joined Guyana Amazon Warriors. St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Trinbago each opted to retain one of their emerging players from last season: Dominic Drakes and Amir Jangoo respectively.

ALSO READ: Nyeem Young, the diamond from Barbados' Gold Coast

Young, a 19-year-old, seam-bowling allrounder from Barbados, had previously targeted a place in the Barbados squad, telling ESPNcricinfo in January that it was his "next aim" following the tournament. "Barbados are a bit like Mumbai Indians in the IPL," he said. "So many good players that they can field three teams."

Seales, who took 10 wickets in six games at the tournament, was picked out as a future star by Tom Moody after the tournament.

"He's got some terrific skill already to his armoury, and got genuine pace for an Under-19 kid," Moody said. "But he gathers pace off the wicket, which I like...which tells me he's got a very good wrist. He snaps through his wrist, which is a bit like Pat Cummins does very, very effectively."

According to the CPL's regulations, each squad must contain two players from the 'emerging' pool, who must play a minimum of five games between them. There are six vacant emerging player spots, which will be filled at the draft. Jamaica Tallawahs are the only franchise yet to sign an emerging player.

"There is so much cricketing talent across the Caribbean and we want to make sure that our tournament plays its part in creating the next generation of West Indies stars," said Pete Russell, the tournament's chief operating officer. "We were delighted with how well these young players did in 2019 and we are really excited to see this group of talented cricketers during the 2020 tournament."

Emerging player signings:

Barbados Tridents - Nyeem Young
Jamaica Tallawahs - none
Guyana Amazon Warriors - Kevin Sinclair
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots - Dominic Drakes
St Lucia Zouks - Kimani Melius
Trinbago Knight Riders - Amir Jangoo, Jayden Seales

The remaining two ODIs of the ongoing series between India and South Africa will be played to empty stadiums. The development comes in the wake of the Indian government directing the BCCI and other national sporting federations including the Indian Olympics Committee on Thursday to "avoid" mass gatherings at sporting events as it takes steps to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Lucknow will be hosting the second ODI on March 16 and Kolkata the final ODI on March 18.

Officials at the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) and Cricket Association of Bengal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that they had received the advisory issued by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports earlier in the day.

The sports ministry's advisory read: "To deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has issued advisories and advised the state governments to take appropriate action under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897.

"You are advised to adhere to advisories issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and ensure that no public gathering takes place in any sporting event. In the event the sporting event cannot be avoided, the same could be done without allowing gathering of the people, including spectators."

The UPCA, its secretary Yudhveer Singh said, consulted the BCCI once it had got the government advisory. "Once we received the note from the government we checked with BCCI and then decided to conduct the match without spectators," Singh said.

Former Bengal player Snehasish Ganguly, who is now the CAB secretary, too, said ticket sales were instantly stopped earlier on Thursday. "We have got a clear circular form the central government saying spectators not to be allowed for the matches in the stadium," Snehasish, who is the elder brother of the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, said. "We stopped the ticket sales as soon as we got the government circular. We had sold 10,000 tickets on bookmyshow. We had also started selling tickets to the [CAB] clubs from Wednesday, but that has also been stopped. The gate sales were scheduled to commence from tomorrow, but that will not happen now."

Snehasish said that financially the staging associations would be affected but the CAB understood these were "sensitive" times and it would comply with the directives.

For the first ODI in Dharamsala, a decent crowd turned out on Thursday despite the spectre of the pandemic as well rain threat looming large. In the end, the match was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Australian Women's tour to South Africa, scheduled to consist of three ODIs and as many T20Is, and due to start on March 22 will not take place as scheduled as part of the preventative measures against COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). This is the first major international series which will not take place as scheduled because of the virus.

Australia won the T20 World Cup last weekend at the MCG, where one fan among the 86,174 in attendance later tested positive for coronavirus. The country has confirmed 122 cases of the virus, as of Wednesday, significantly more than South Africa, where 17 cases have been reported.

Sporting events in Australia have been also been affected with McLaren withdrawing from the season-opening Formula 1 Grand Prix after one of their team members also tested positive. South Africa have yet to feel the same impact with events such as the Cape Town Jazz Festival, the continent's biggest, set to go ahead later this month. The Australia series is the first to be canceled.

Although the series is part of the ICC Women's Championship, it's cancellation or postponement will not affect either side's qualification for the 2021 50-over World Cup. Australia are currently on top of the points table and are certain of participating in the flagship event while South Africa secured their spot by beating New Zealand prior to the T20 World Cup, where they reached the semi-finals. South Africa lost to Australia in a rain-affected match and would have been keen to come up against the champions, but will have to settle for an extended period of rest instead.

Meanwhile, the South African men's team's tour to India continues after the first ODI in Dharamsala was washed out on Thursday. The remaining two matches will be played behind closed doors in Lucknow and Kolkata.

At home, the South African domestic season is continuing as usual. There are six more matches in the domestic one-day cup which will be played in the next nine days and two rounds of first-class fixtures scheduled for late March to early April. Crowd attendance, especially for the latter, is historically low (and sometimes non-existent) so the risk associated with having these fixtures take place is considered to be minimal.

England's Test tour against Sri Lanka is currently "planned to continue" in spite of the growing threat of the the COVID-19 pandemic, but their home Test series against West Indies in June, as well as the T20 Blast, is under threat, with both events scheduled for a period that the UK government has identified as the likely peak of the virus in the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed at a press conference on Thursday afternoon that sporting fixtures will not be banned with immediate effect, but said that such a move is under consideration, which could wreak havoc with the English cricketing summer.

England are currently in Sri Lanka playing their final four-day warm-up match ahead of the two-Test series, where the ECB are in regular contact with the Sri Lankan and British High Commissions, in addition to Sri Lanka Cricket to address a "highly evolving" situation.

Sri Lanka currently has two confirmed COVID-19 patients, but the bigger fear may be the tightening or closing of borders, which may leave tourists - including the England team - with difficulties getting home.

''We are in regular contact with the Sri Lankan and British High Commissions in addition to Sri Lanka Cricket around the Sri Lanka v England Test matches, scheduled in the next few weeks," said an ECB spokesperson.

"At this stage, the series is planned to continue, but we want to stress that this is a highly evolving situation and circumstances are changing rapidly, sometimes several times a day.

"We urge fans who are considering travelling to consult with the current British and Sri Lankan Government advice, to continue to do this up until the point of travel and also for the duration of their trip."

The global sporting calendar has already been thrown into chaos by the spread of the virus, with hundreds of events postponed, cancelled, or played behind closed doors. In England, four counties have cancelled their pre-season tours overseas, while at least two more are expected to return home early.

ALSO READ: Newsfile - ICC Board to hold March meeting via conference call

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK's chief scientific adviser, said during the Prime Minister's press conference that the peak is "10-14 weeks away, maybe slightly longer", leaving the English cricket season in a nightmare situation which could result in a huge number of fixtures cancelled or played behind closed doors.

England are scheduled to play three Tests against West Indies, with the series starting at The Oval on June 4. That date is currently 12 weeks away, in the middle of the expected peak period. The T20 Blast is scheduled to start on May 28, with the group stage running until July 12.

"We are considering the question of banning major public events such as sporting fixtures," Mr Johnson said, describing the virus as "the biggest public health crisis in a generation".

"The scientific advice, as we've said over the last couple of weeks, is that banning such events will have little effect on the spread," he said.

"But there is also the issue of the burden that such events can place on public services, so we're discussing these issues with colleagues in all parts of the United Kingdom. We'll have more to say shortly about further action in that respect. At all stages we have been guided by the science, and we will do the right thing at the right time."

The cancellation of a whole home Test series would be a significant financial blow for the ECB, while the T20 Blast generates a major proportion of most counties' income. It is possible that the tournament could be pushed back further in the summer - possibly at the expense of the final rounds of County Championship fixtures - but there is precious little room in the schedule for change.

More immediately, the County Championship is scheduled to start on April 12. While crowds are typically relatively low, they regularly exceed 2000 at certain grounds, and the main demographic of match-going fans is elderly, increasing their vulnerability to the virus.

It is possible that games - almost all of which are streamed for free online - could be played behind closed doors, and the ECB is in close contact with government to discuss its options.

Sir Patrick explained that the nature of the virus means that a blanket ban on sporting fixtures is unlikely to have a major impact on its spread. "On average one person infects two or three others," he said. "You therefore have a very low probability of infecting a large number of people in a stadium, or a rather higher probability of infecting people very close to you.

"And that means that most of the transmission tends to take place actually with friends and colleagues in close environments, not in the big environments. So, it is true, of course that any cancellation can have some effect.

"But if you get a displacement activity where you end up with everyone congregating somewhere else, you may actually have perversely an increased risk, particularly in an indoors environment."

On Thursday, the NHL decided to "pause" the 2019-20 season, with hopes to resume play at some point in the future. The decision comes after hockey leagues in other countries -- as well as other sports leagues in North America -- made the call to suspend or outright cancel the remainder of their seasons because of the coronavirus.

What does all of this mean, in both the short and long term? We're here to answer all of the biggest questions on hockey fans' minds in the wake of the decision, and will continue to update this story as we learn more.

What has the NHL decided to do regarding the coronavirus outbreak?

Greg Wyshynski: The NHL on Thursday "paused" its regular season -- not postponed nor suspended, but "paused" -- after consulting with medical experts and conferring with its board of governors. "The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures. However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus -- and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point -- it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

How did the league get to this point?

Wyshynski: As the coronavirus caused postponements and cancellations overseas, the NHL's first reaction was to close the dressing rooms to the media at practice and after games. Player availability was held in hallways or news conference rooms, with reporters keeping a distance of at least 6 feet away. Then the league and its teams restricted travel for personnel, including scouts. As more cities and regions recommended against or restricted mass gatherings, the NHL was preparing to play "ghost games" inside of empty home arenas beginning as early as Thursday night. But then the season was paused instead.

How many NHL cities have banned mass gatherings?

Emily Kaplan: The NHL was prepared to play games in San Jose, California, and Columbus, Ohio, without spectators, per orders from local governments. The Sharks were following orders from the county of Santa Clara's public health department, which issued an order to limit public and private mass gatherings. The Blue Jackets initially said they would still allow fans to attend games, but changed course when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he would issue an order to ban spectators. California also recommended a statewide limit on large gatherings through at least the remainder of March, which could have affected the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.

Which other leagues/events in the hockey world have canceled or suspended play, or made another precaution?

Kaplan: USA Hockey announced Thursday that all championships on a local level have been canceled. The IIHF women's world championships, which were supposed to begin in late March in Nova Scotia, were canceled, however the IIHF men's world championships, scheduled to take place in May in Switzerland, are still on for now. According to TSN, the men's under-18 tournament was also canceled. The NWHL postponed the Isobel Cup Final, scheduled for Friday in Boston. The USHL suspended its season, and the AHL is expected to follow the NHL's suit and pause its season as well. Several hockey leagues in Europe -- including in Switzerland and Germany -- have already canceled their playoffs. Swiss League director Denis Vaucher said in a statement that the league "has a responsibility to protect our players, club members and their health, and that is now a top priority." The Swedish league postponed postseason play until at least March 24. The KHL is continuing on with its playoffs, but Thursday's game between Spartak and Dynamo was played behind closed doors, per a local government decree.

Could the playoffs be canceled, too? Postponed?

Wyshynski: Everything is on the table right now. One NHL source told ESPN that their team's physician doesn't believe the spread of coronavirus will subside until June. If the NHL is off the ice for that long, the postseason's fate has to hang in the balance, even as arena availability for July is being explored. But NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear: "Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup."

From a functional standpoint, how could the playoffs be seeded if the regular season is done?

Wyshynski: A source on the players' side believes a "best-case" scenario would be a two- to three-week pause to the season; the continuation of the regular season for a few more games, though less than a complete 82; and then a truncated playoffs with shorter opening series. But if the NHL wanted to jump right into the playoffs, the only equitable way would be through using points percentage rather than point totals, as teams have played an unequal number of games (between 69-71). If the playoffs start where the regular season was paused, you'd end up with the following series:

Eastern Conference:

A1 Boston Bruins (.714 points percentage) vs. WC2 New York Islanders (.588)
A2 Tampa Bay Lightning (.657) vs. A3 Toronto Maple Leafs (.579)
M1 Washington Capitals (.652) vs. WC1 Carolina Hurricanes (.596)
M2 Philadelphia Flyers (.645) vs. M3 Pittsburgh Penguins (.623)

Western Conference:

C1 St. Louis Blues (.662) vs. WC2 Calgary Flames (.564)
C2 Colorado Avalanche (.657) vs. C3 Dallas Stars (.594)
P1 Vegas Golden Knights (.606) vs. WC1 Nashville Predators (.565)
P2 Edmonton Oilers (.585) vs. P3 Vancouver Canucks (.565)

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets, who are currently in wild-card seeds via total points, would not make the playoff cut.

Would they name a champion without the playoffs?

Wyshynski: Not if history is any indication. Since the NHL's first season of operation in 1917, the Stanley Cup has been awarded via a playoff series, although the formats have changed dramatically over the years. The only time the NHL didn't have a Stanley Cup winner in a season was in the 1919 Stanley Cup Final, which was canceled after five games due to an outbreak of Spanish flu. Eventually, that series was honored with a Stanley Cup etching that read "1919/Montreal Canadiens/Seattle Metropolitans/Series Not Completed." If there aren't playoffs in the 2019-20 season and the NHL doesn't name a champion, that would follow the template set by other pro hockey leagues in 2020 such as Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany, which canceled its postseason and declared "there will be no German hockey champion crowned this year."

Are any teams currently isolating themselves?

Kaplan: Not that we know of at this moment. Teams were advised not to travel or hold meetings or practices for now. There are no known cases of COVID-19 among NHL players or staff members.

How many teams could have been touched by the NBA teams involved?

Kaplan: Two players on the Utah Jazz -- Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell -- have tested positive for COVID-19. Since March 4, Gobert and the Jazz played at Madison Square Garden in New York, TD Garden in Boston and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, which all host NHL teams as well. The Jazz also faced the Toronto Raptors, who share a home with the Maple Leafs. Typically, the visiting basketball teams and visiting hockey teams have separate locker rooms in arenas. However, considering how highly communicable the disease is, the overlap is alarming.

What steps are being made to test players and team staff?

Wyshynski: Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that COVID-19 testing will be handled by the teams rather than the league. "Testing kits are controlled by local health, and each state is allocated different amounts based on population and experience. At this point, the need for testing is greater than the supply of tests. That will start to change as manufacturers are ramping up production," he said.

What happens with revenues if the season ends up being canceled?

Wyshynski: Hockey-related revenue (HRR) is projected at $5 billion. The playoffs make up roughly $250 million of HRR. The players' share is $125 million of that playoff revenue, due to the 50/50 split between players and owners. To ensure that split, there's a thing called escrow in the NHL where a portion of the players' salaries are kept in reserve in case there's an imbalance between what the players earn vs. the owners. The players and owners determine the final HRR number, and they adjust accordingly. This season, 14% of a player's salary was withheld in escrow.

The last 12 games of the regular season, approximately, represent another $100 million in revenue. So if the rest of the regular season and playoffs were wiped out, the overall hockey-related revenue could fall to $4.6 billion. The players' share would be reduced by $200 million. What this adds up to is another 20% potentially being taken off the face value of contracts.

Where would that money come from to bridge that new revenue gap if the season is canceled? The NHL could simply deposit player paychecks -- which arrive on the 15th and 30th of each month -- directly into escrow beginning now. Or it could result in a significant increase in escrow on next season's paychecks to make up for this season's revenue gap after escrow is paid to the owners, which is a provision in the current collective bargaining agreement.

Will this impact the salary-cap projection?

Kaplan: At the NHL's general manager meetings in March, the league said the salary cap was projected to be between $84 million and $88.2 million for the 2020-21 season, an uptick from the current cap of $81.5 million The exact figure will be negotiated with the NHL Players' Association. The cap is calculated on a percentage of hockey-related revenue for the previous season, and the healthy increase indicated that the NHL was steadily growing as it prepares to welcome its 32nd team, Seattle, for the 2021-22 season.

Should the NHL miss out on revenue this spring -- for the final three-plus weeks of the regular season, and especially in the playoffs -- while still paying its players, expect the cap to dip. To compensate for that, however, it's possible that the NHL and NHLPA will create an "artificial cap," meaning it is not exactly created off this season's HRR. That would help prevent some teams from entering a serious salary-cap squeeze this summer.

The NHL has suspended its season because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus but hopes to resume in the future.

There are 189 games and three and a half weeks remaining in the NHL's regular season. There were 10 games on the NHL slate Thursday.

"The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures," the league said in a statement. "However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus -- and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point -- it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time.

"We will continue to monitor all the appropriate medical advice, and we will encourage our players and other members of the NHL community to take all reasonable precautions -- including by self-quarantine, where appropriate. Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup. Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy."

The NHL players' union said in a statement: "The decision to temporarily suspend play due to the COVID-19 pandemic is an appropriate course of action at this time."

The NBA decided to suspend its season after Rudy Gobert, a player on the Utah Jazz, tested positive for the coronavirus. Since March 4, Gobert and the Jazz had played at Madison Square Garden in New York, TD Garden in Boston and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit -- which all host NHL teams as well. The Jazz also faced the Toronto Raptors, who share a home with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Thursday, sources told ESPN that Jazz star Donovan Mitchell also tested positive for the coronavirus.

The NHL began preparing for a stoppage on Thursday morning when it advised all teams to cancel morning skates, practices and team meetings. Earlier this week, the league adopted a new media policy that prevented reporters from entering the dressing room.

The NHL was already preparing to play games later this month in San Jose, California, and Columbus, Ohio, with no spectators -- per orders from local government.

There have been two seasons in NHL history where the Stanley Cup was not awarded: in 1918-19 because of the Spanish flu and in 2004-05 because of a lockout.

Several hockey leagues in Europe -- including in Switzerland and Germany -- have already canceled their playoffs. The IIHF women's world championship in Nova Scotia, which was scheduled to begin later this month, has been canceled. TSN is reporting that the IIHF U18 tourney in Michigan in April has also been called off, but the men's tournament in Switzerland in May is so far still on.

The NWHL's Isobel Cup final, scheduled to be held this weekend in Boston, has been postponed.

The Harvard men's hockey team had decided Wednesday not to participate in the ECAC tournament, ending its season, but then Thursday the entire event was canceled as a number of conferences called off their tournaments. USA Hockey announced Thursday that it was suspending play in its junior league, the USHL, and canceling all championships on a local level.

The spread of COVID-19, and its escalation to a pandemic, caused the NHL to accelerate its plans. On March 2, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN the league was only beginning to "explore contingency plans" including postponing or canceling games, or playing in empty arenas. "I think it's very unlikely -- knock on wood, I'm hopeful -- that we would progress to a stage where we have to consider something that dramatic," Daly said at the time. "But certainly everything is possible, and we have to look at all possible contingencies. If it gets to that point, we will be ready."

The NCAA canceled its men's and women's basketball tournaments on Thursday because of the spread of coronavirus, putting an abrupt end to the season less than a month before champions were to be crowned.

The unprecedented move comes a day after the NCAA announced the games that were scheduled to start next week would go on, but played in mostly empty arenas. That plan was scrapped as every major American sports league from the NBA to MLB put the brakes on its season due to concerns about the pandemic.

"This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our 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 the ongoing decisions by other entities," the NCAA said in statement.

The NCAA canceled championships in every spring sport, which include hockey, baseball and lacrosse.

The stunning end to the basketball season came about four hours after a frantic morning when conference tournaments around the country came to a sudden halt. Moments away from tipoff at some arenas, and minutes apart, each Power Five conference canceled its remaining games.

At Madison Square Garden in New York, the Big East game between Creighton and St. John's did start, but at halftime the conference called off that game and all the rest. Turns out that was the last Division I basketball to be played this season.

Smaller conferences followed suit, shutting down their tournaments, and within a few hours 58 men's games scheduled in 16 conferences had been canceled.

Then the conferences began shutting down all athletic activities, for at least a few weeks like the Southeastern Conference, or indefinitely like the Atlantic Coast Conference.

A few hours later, the NCAA put an end to it all.

The decision to cancel baseball and softball drew a sharp response from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

"Surprised that we've made a decision now in mid-March to not play baseball or softball national championship events [scheduled for June]. So I look forward to learning what informed that decision. I know what's informed our decisions over the last day and a half or so, but the news from the NCAA we were waiting on -- on the basketball tournaments and some of the championships happening now -- but obviously, there was the decision to go further," Sankey said on The Paul Finebaum Show.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the virus.

The NCAA men's basketball tournament has been played every year since 1939 when Oregon won the championship in Evanston, Illinois. It has grown through the years, both in size and stature. The three-week tournament generates almost a billion dollars in revenue each year for the NCAA and its hundreds of member universities and colleges, most coming from a television contract with CBS and Turner that pays the NCAA almost $800 million annually.

It is now one of the biggest events in American sports, a basketball marathon of buzzer-beaters, upset and thrills involving 68 teams. The field for the men's tournament was scheduled to be announced Sunday, creating the famous bracket that sports fans would obsess over in office pools and at sportsbooks.

The 64-team women's field was to be revealed Monday.

"This is a difficult time with so many conflicting emotions," Dawn Staley, coach of the No. 1-ranked South Carolina women's basketball team, said in a statement. "First and foremost, we have to recognize how important it is to do the right thing for our community. Sports is a big part of our lives, but just one part of how we are connected to each other. We need to step back and think about the larger good served by canceling events that put people at risk.

"As competitors, we are certainly disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to contend for a second National Championship. That said, it will not diminish the way we look at our season, how we value our body of work over the last four months. We have measured ourselves against the best in the country over that time, and will embrace and relish that accomplishment."

The NCAA women's tournament began in 1982 and it, too, has become a big event, raising the profile of the sport.

"I'm disappointed but I totally understand. I really feel for the senior student-athletes; every student athlete, but particularly the seniors because this is their last chance for the fans," said Oregon women's coach Kelly Graves, whose team would have entered the tournament as favorites to reach the Final Four in New Orleans. "There's something more important than the games going on. I've kind of come to grips to that a little more than a few hours ago."

Games would have started on the men's side on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, before spreading out to eight sites from coast-to-coast from next Thursday through Sunday. The women's tournament was scheduled to begin March 20, with first- and second-round games to be played at 16 sites on or near the campuses of the top teams.

The men's Final Four was to be played April 4 and 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The semifinals and final typically pack football stadiums for the games, and after the champion is crowned the best moments of the year's tournament are wrapped up into the "One Shining Moment" montage that has become a staple of CBS' television coverage through the years.

Instead, March Madness took on a different meaning as sports have virtually shut down.

Baseball's College World Series not be held for the first time since 1946. Omaha has hosted the Division I baseball championship every year since 1950. The CWS has a $70 million annual impact on the local economy each year and produces 10 days of programming inventory for ESPN.

"Devastating. Stunning," UCLA baseball coach John Savage said. "I feel for all the players. I feel for the coaches. I feel for all the programs that work so hard through the fall and January."

The eight-team College World Series is held each June at TD Ameritrade Park and is the culmination of the NCAA baseball tournament, the No. 2 revenue producer for the NCAA. The event draws more than 300,000 fans per year from across the country and is one of Omaha's most anticipated events of the year.

"To have such a decision to go down so quickly is just really hard to imagine," Savage said. I "feel for the seniors across the country. It's just a really, really sad day."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

In the wake of the NBA's decision to suspend its season due to coronavirus concerns, European basketball leagues have followed suit with postponements and cancellations that have brought the professional basketball world to a near-complete halt.

The four major pan-European competitions -- the Euroleague, EuroCup, FIBA Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup -- are all indefinitely suspended, according to league officials.

Spanish ACB league champion and Euroleague participant Real Madrid announced that a member of its basketball team tested positive for coronavirus. The team elected to quarantine its basketball and football teams, given that both squads share a practice facility.

The local ACB league announced that all games scheduled to be held in Spain over the next two weeks have been postponed until April.

In Italy, the Serie A championship, as well as all other sporting competitions, have been suspended until at least April 3, per government regulations.

The French LNB league announced that all firs and second division games will be postponed until the end of March.

In Germany, easyCredit BBL league officials announced that games are indefinitely suspended effective immediately. Teams will meet within the next 14 days "to discuss the current situation and possible scenarios and options."

Restrictions on mass gatherings in Ukraine caused the local basketball federation to announce it has canceled the remainder of their Superleague competition, making BC Dnipro the league champion after finishing in first place.

The Adriatic League, consisting of teams from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Macedonia, announced that all competitions under its umbrella (including the league's second division, and U19 Championship) are suspended "with immediate effect and until further notice." The Adriatic first division had just one round remaining of regular-season play before four teams advanced to the playoffs.

In Greece, the ESASK league board of directors unanimously voted to postpone the upcoming weekend round of competition "for preventive public health reasons," effectively suspending the competition until further notice.

Radosław Piesiewicz, president of the Polish basketball league, announced that domestic games will be suspended until at least March 25.

The VTB League, consisting of teams from Russia, Poland, Estonia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, appears to be moving forward as planned, with a game between Lokomotiv Kuban and Kalev scheduled to be played later Thursday.

The Turkish government announced that all sporting events until the end of April will be played behind closed doors.

Israeli basketball officials announced that this weekend's games will be held behind closed doors with no more than 100 total people permitted in the arena.

NBA owners are encouraging commissioner Adam Silver to reevaluate the league's suspension of play in 30 days, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBA is expected to make a formal announcement on an initial timetable soon, sources said.

The league announced Wednesday that games had been suspended after Utah's Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with the coronavirus. On Thursday, sources said Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell had also been diagnosed with the virus.

In his first public comments since testing positive for COVID-19, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert apologized on Instagram for his "careless" actions that exposed others to the disease, saying he hopes that his "story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously."

View this post on Instagram

I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of concern and support over the last 24 hours. I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis...mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment. The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously. I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of this virus . I am under great care and will fully recover. Thank you again for all your support. I encourage everyone to take all of the steps to stay safe and healthy. Love.

A post shared by Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) on Mar 12, 2020 at 1:03pm PDT

Gobert tested positive for coronavirus in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, causing the postponement of the Jazz's game against the Thunder seconds before the scheduled tip-off and the suspension of the NBA season soon thereafter. Teammate and locker room neighbor Donovan Mitchell also later tested positive, the only other member of the Jazz's traveling party to do so.

Gobert, an All-Star center and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, described his emotions since he became aware of his diagnosis as being "mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment."

On Monday, Gobert jokingly mocked the NBA's temporary rules requiring media members to keep a 6- to 8-foot distance from players. Gobert, a Magic Johnson Award nominee last season due to his cooperation with the media, made a point to touch all the microphones and recording devices on the table in front of him after finishing his post-shootaround availability, which was set up in an interview room at the team's practice facility instead of the normal court-side area.

Gobert had a similar cavalier attitude in the locker room, Jazz players privately said, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. As with other NBA players, Gobert exchanged high-fives with teammates as usual in recent games despite the coronavirus crisis escalating into a pandemic.

Gobert began feeling symptoms on Tuesday and was upgraded to questionable after he began feeling better on Wednesday. He did not go to Chesapeake Energy Arena for the Jazz's shootaround or pregame, but Gobert hoped to play if the COVID-19 test was negative.

The Jazz, without identifying Gobert, said in a statement that a player "tested negative for influenza, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. The individual's symptoms diminished over the course of [Wednesday], however, in a precautionary measure, and in consultation and cooperation with NBA medical staff and Oklahoma health officials, the decision was made to test for COVID-19."

Utah also said that it "immediately informed the league office" when it was determined the player needed to be tested.

No players from the teams that the Jazz played over the previous two weeks -- the Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors -- have reported coronavirus symptoms. Several of the those teams announced plans for the players to self-quarantine. The Raptors, the Jazz's latest opponent on Monday, announced that their traveling party had been tested for COVID-19.

"We await those results," the Raptors' statement read, in part. "Our players, coaches and traveling staff have all been advised to go into self-isolation for 14 days, which means minimizing contact in accordance with public health guidelines. Our team doctors remain in communication with infection control specialists and public health authorities, and we will continue to abide by their advice."

Information from ESPN's Royce Young was used in this report.