New York governor’s ban on state-sponsored and non-essential trips to North Carolina has caused a bit of a wrinkle on the college basketball schedule for the upcoming season. The University of Albany was forced to cancel a road game at Duke to comply with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision because it is a part of the State University of New York.
The ruling was made in response to the controversial HB2 law, the bathroom law requiring transgender people to use restrooms matching the original sex as printed on their birth certificates.
“The State University of New York supports Governor Cuomo’s executive order banning all non-essential travel to the state of North Carolina,” SUNY spokesperson Holly Liapsis told the Herald-Sun. “We instructed our campuses to immediately review any existing travel plans by faculty and staff. SUNY and its campuses continue to support the Governor on taking this stand.”
Albany’s game against Duke was to be part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament, which will be hosted by Duke, Cincinnati, Penn State and Rhode Island. Other schools competing in the tournament include Marist, Grand Canyon and Brown. Albany’s spot in the tournament will have to be filled, which a Duke spokesperson claims is the responsibility of the tournament. Why Albany could not simply switch matchups with another school playing in the tournament to avoid a trip to North Carolina is beyond me, but a new team will have to be added. It is expected an adjusted schedule for the tournament will be finalized within the next week.
It is a shame for the Albany players, of course, because they will miss out on a chance to play in one of college basketball’s most famous atmospheres at Duke. Hopefully, Albany will be able to schedule another game on short notice to play in some other classic venue, but that may be tough to do as schedules fill up. Albany was 24-9 last season and lost out on a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament after losing the America East’s automatic bid (Stony Brook won the bid). Albany would likely still have to win its conference’s automatic bid to go to the NCAA tournament anyway, but a chance to go toe-to-toe with Duke can do wonders for your RPI in college basketball, even with a loss. Without Duke on the schedule, Albany’s schedule strength takes a hit.
It is also worth noting this decision will not have an impact on some of the larger programs in the state of New York, like Duke’s fellow ACC school Syracuse. Because Syracuse is a private university and not run by the state, the Orange are not subject to such restrictions. The same holds true for St. John’s of the Big East.
