Odd message from Virginia Tech Athletics today, that the men’s basketball program “has elected to decline an opportunity to compete in the 2026 National Invitation Tournament.”
Forthcoming message from whoever runs the NIT: um, OK, so, what if we weren’t going to invite you in the first place?
Seriously, this is, on the surface, anyway, a weird flex from Tech Basketball, which was knocked out of the ACC Tournament in the first round on Tuesday night, dropping a 95-89 OT decision to Wake Forest, the Hokies’ seventh loss in their final 10 games.
They had to go there without leading scorer Amani Hansberry, who was a game-time decision after suffering an injury in the second half of Tech’s loss at Virginia to conclude the regular season last Saturday.
The statement posted by Tech Athletics to its socials on Friday referenced “the current health status of members of our roster and the need for a number of our student-athletes to focus on recovery and preparation for their professional careers.”
Presumably, none of that would have mattered if they were on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
ICYMI
- Virginia Tech falls in OT to Wake Forest at ACC Tournament: NCAA hopes dashed
- Mike Young on Virginia Tech season of close calls: ‘We came up just short’
- Mike Young on loss at #13 Virginia: ‘What the f–k am I doing wrong?’
This one is more about the utter lack of meaning attached to the NIT, which has only had this issue for decades, but the problem is more pronounced now in the NIL/revenue-sharing era that we’re in.
It used to be that, at the least, you could justify taking an NIT bid if your team was young, and you thought you could benefit from playing another game or two or few to get your guys some more reps, and to try to build momentum for next year.
In the NIL/revenue-sharing environment that we’re in now, you’re lucky if you have two or three guys set to return to build around for next year.
Nobody except ESPN profits off NIT games, so that’s not a consideration.
Against that backdrop, totally understand the move here by Tech Basketball.
I also get why they wanted to tell us ahead of time.
Whit Babcock and Mike Young wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t that they weren’t invited.
Even though, you know, they weren’t.
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Chris Graham
