Oklahoma State's Gundy apologizes after dismissing coronavirus concerns

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy released a statement Saturday apologizing for his comments about bringing players to the school facility in May despite the coronavirus pandemic.

"I have been made aware that comments from my press conference have offended some," Gundy said, according to Bryan Fischer of NBC Sports' CollegeFootballTalk. "It was never my intention to offend anyone and I apologize. My first priority is and will always be the student-athletes and doing what is best for the program and the university."

Earlier this week, the longtime coach said, "We need to bring our players back. They are 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 years old and they are healthy and they have the ability to fight this virus off. If that is true, then we sequester them and continue, because we need to run money through the state of Oklahoma."

Oklahoma State quickly responded to Gundy's initial comments.

"We will adhere to the advice of public health experts who are making informed decisions in the best interest of the citizens of our nation and state based on sound scientific data," the university statement said, according to Heather Dinich of ESPN. "We will not compromise the health and well-being of our campus community. This virus is deadly and we will do our part at Oklahoma State to help blunt the spread."

The Big 12 has banned all in-person activities until May 31 or "until additional guidance is provided." Oklahoma State, meanwhile, has suspended in-person classes through the spring semester.

As of Saturday, over 1,800 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state of Oklahoma.