Villanova's Wright doesn't expect to see fans at games next season

Villanova head coach Jay Wright is pessimistic about the prospect of crowds filling out arenas in 2020-21.

"I can't see, right now, having fans (this upcoming season)," he told Forbes' Adam Zagoria on Tuesday.

Wright added, "College basketball is up in the air."

Multiple NCAA conferences, including the Big East, announced in March that they would play their postseason tournaments behind closed doors due to the developing coronavirus pandemic.

However, during a quarterfinal matchup between Creighton and St. John's on March 12, the Big East announced it was canceling the rest of the tournament to curb the spread of the virus. Several other conferences followed suit. Eventually, the NCAA Tournament was also scrapped.

However, Wright downplayed any potential negative effects that empty stands would have on his team.

"Players and coaches would be far less impacted than you would ever think by having fans there," he said. "I mean, we love it. But no one gets to see these scrimmages we play against opposing teams with no one in the gym.

"They are ferocious and we love them and there's kind of a weird competitiveness. It's like almost being in a cage, there's no one else around. The two teams are just sparring, it's kind of cool."

Some conferences have begun allowing their respective teams and players to return to campuses for voluntary workouts, though the Big East has yet to announce such measures. Wright says he and his staff "don't have any timeline yet" as to when players will be able to go back.