Head coach Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears talks with players Devonte Bandoo #2, Tristan Clark #25 and Matthew Mayer #24, during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 3, 2020 in Manhattan, Kansas.
Baylor men's basketball coach Scott Drew has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement posted to Drew's Twitter account Sunday afternoon, the head coach said he tested positive Friday after a round of team-wide testing.
He said he immeidately began to self-isolate and helped with contact tracing. He said he was asymptomatic as of Sunday afternoon.
The rest of the second-ranked Bears' men's basketball team tested negative Friday and again on Sunday, Drew wrote. His positive test was the program's first since testing began 12 weeks ago.
Baylor, picked to win the conference in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, opens its season Wednesday against No. 18 Arizona State in the Empire Classic in Uncasville, Connecticut. Associate head coach Jerome Tang, who's been at Baylor for 18 years, will serve as interim head coach in Drew's absence.
Drew's positive test is not the first time the Baylor athletic department has been impacted by COVID-19 this year.
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The football team's first two games of the season were postponed. The first contest, scheduled against Louisiana Tech, wasn't played due to an outbreak in the Bulldogs' program.
The next week, the Bears were scheduled to play Houston in a game scheduled on short notice, but the number of COVID-19 cases in the Baylor program did not allow the team to meet roster thresholds set by the Big 12.
Less than a month later, Baylor suspended all football activities for two weeks due to more positive coronavirus cases. The temporary pause forced the Big 12 to reschedule the Bears' game against Oklahoma State to mid-December.
Days later, it was revealed the Baylor athletic department had 32 active COVID-19 cases at the time it paused football activities.
