The No. 2-ranked Duke basketball team will not travel to Clemson or Notre Dame this week.
The two ACC games have been postponed in response to COVID-19 issues within the Blue Devils’ program, The News & Observer has learned.
Duke was scheduled to face Clemson Wednesday afternoon before traveling to face Notre Dame Saturday night.
The Blue Devils opened ACC play last Wednesday with a 76-65 comeback win over Virginia Tech.
The ACC also changed its COVID-19 protocols last Wednesday, adjusting the forfeit rule that had previously applied to teams unable to play a scheduled league game due to positive COVID-19 cases.
The new ACC rule stipulates that as long as a team has seven available scholarship players and one coach, they are deemed available to play. If a team does not have that number of participants, the game will be declared a no contest. Previously that had been a forfeit.
However, if a team does meet those requirements and decides not to play, the result would then be a forfeit.
The rule change will apply retroactively, meaning forfeit results stemming from postponed games (Duke at Miami women and Boston College men at Wake Forest) can now be considered a no contest.
ACC athletic directors voted on the change during a previously scheduled meeting Wednesday. They were advised by the ACC’s Medical Advisory Group, which is comprised of one health official from each of the ACC’s 15 schools. Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist, chairs the group.
The move comes amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious omicron variant, which causes breakthrough positive tests even among individuals who are fully vaccinated.
This story will be updated.