Seton Hall vs. Iona likely canceled due to Pirates COVID issues

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COVID-19 has wreaked havoc for the Islanders, Giants, Knicks and Nets, and now the virus is messing with red-hot Seton Hall.

The 16th-ranked Pirates’ game against Iona College on Saturday, as part of a doubleheader at the Garden, is off due to COVID issues with Seton Hall, the school announced Thursday. The Pirates are believed to have registered several positive tests in recent days within their program.

Monday’s Big East opener against St. John’s also is now in jeopardy. If Seton Hall doesn’t have seven healthy scholarship players it will forfeit, according to conference rules.

Complicating the situation is Seton Hall has two players dealing with injury issues in center Ike Obiagu (ankle) and prized freshman Brandon Weston (knee). Their status could determine whether the Pirates have enough players to face the Johnnies. It likely would also depend on whether Seton Hall has any more positive tests in the coming days.

Iona is looking to find an opponent to replace Seton Hall and has spoken to a number of schools that had games canceled — such as VCU, Northwestern and Bryant — about filling in, a source said. In a tweet, coach Rick Pitino said Iona would need to have a new opponent by noon on Friday or it would add a non-conference game later on in the season.

During a Big East meeting this week, the topic was broached of possibly rescheduling games rather than ruling them forfeits, but it didn’t build any momentum, sources said. That could obviously change if more games are canceled.

Seton Hall has a number of unvaccinated players and dealt with COVID-19 issues in the summer, forcing it to halt offseason workouts. In May Seton Hall said every member of its community had to be vaccinated but allowed exceptions for “religious beliefs, pre-existing health conditions, or personal reasons while COVID-19 vaccines are authorized on an emergency-use basis.” The school then said last week more than 50 percent of the school had verified vaccination cards and “unvaccinated individuals must declare a medical or religious exemption.”

St. John’s faces Pittsburgh on Saturday at noon at the Garden and hosts Butler on Thursday, which could become their de facto league opener. The Johnnies entire team is vaccinated, but they were being extra cautious and opted not to send their players to Thursday night’s fundraising event, An Evening with St. John’s Basketball, according to a source.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium was first to report the Seton Hall-Iona news.

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