Roy Williams, UNC basketball respond to video of players partying after Duke win

First-year forward Armando Bacot (5) attempts to block a free throw from UM's first-year guard Harlond Beverly (5) in the Smith Center on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. UNC defeated Miami 94-71.

Updated Feb. 9, 1:39 p.m.: UNC men's basketball players, the team managers and head coach Roy Williams released statements addressing the video of players celebrating without masks after Saturday's Duke game.

"Saturday night, a number of players and managers — not just the ones shown on the video that was seen — got together to celebrate our win at Duke," the players and managers said. "Our intention was to celebrate privately within our group.

Official statement from the players. pic.twitter.com/QyanGyeQk2
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) February 9, 2021

"I appreciate the players voicing their apology," Williams added in a separate statement. "They made a mistake. They’ve been fantastic for more than eight months in the way they have dealt with the whole situation with the virus. But they realize they did make a mistake, for which they are paying a very significant price.”

Updated Feb. 8, 11:57 p.m.: Miami men's basketball head coach Jim Larrañaga spoke with athletic director Blake James, his players and UNC officials about the video of UNC basketball players celebrating the Duke win maskless before the decision was made to postpone Monday night's game as a health and safety precaution, the Miami Herald reported.

“There was a video that was out there with several of their players without masks at a party at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, which is less than 48 hours from our game,” Larrañaga told the Miami Herald. “Our president (Julio) Frenk is adamant that student-athletes are allowed to compete, but they’ve got to stay safe, social distance.

“Our guys have done a fantastic job. We have not had a single guy test positive and they were all unanimous that this isn’t right. We have been quarantining, hibernating, whatever you want to call it, and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position (to get the virus). We came to a decision that it’s better to postpone the game.”

The North Carolina men's basketball team's game against Miami that was slated for Monday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. has been postponed, the ACC announced in a press release.

This postponement follows a meeting between personnel from both schools, "who mutually concluded the game could not move forward today," the ACC said. The conference also said in the release that both programs are continuing to adhere to the minimum outlined protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report.

Stadium basketball insider Jeff Goodman reported that Miami "wasn't comfortable playing the game" after The Daily Tar Heel obtained and reported on a video of UNC basketball players Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe partying maskless in a room with at least seven other people following Saturday's 91-87 win over Duke.

The reason that the Miami-UNC game has been postponed is because a video surfaced after the Tar Heels win over Duke in which Day'Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot were partying without masks, source told @Stadium. Miami wasn't comfortable playing the game.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 8, 2021

“We are disappointed that tonight’s game against Miami is postponed and hope that every effort will be made to re-schedule the game," UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham said in a statement after the announcement.

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