Manhattan Buckeye;1592003 wrote:Why wouldn't Wright St. want the exposure? They have a very quality arena, and can build on their advancement in any one of the lower tournaments.
This is part of the article I wsa talking about from last week.
A few hours after missing out on a Horizon League championship and berth in the NCAA tournament with a 69-63 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Wright State men’s basketball team found out it is has a chance to play at least one more game.
WSU athletic director Bob Grant confirmed the team received an invitation to play in another postseason tournament, but whether the Raiders accept the offer is something he and coach Billy Donlon will have to discuss.
“It’s not as easy as ‘Hey, we’re invited, let’s go,’ ” Grant said. “There are so many other factors involved.”
There are travel costs if it’s a road game. And if a home game is offered, there are guarantees and commitments to play in other tournaments down the road. And at the top of the list is the physical and mental well-being of the student athletes.
“There are other important things, such as how are the kids feeling? Do they have any basketball left in them,” Grant added. “How banged up are we? How are we academically? This is not a win-at-all-costs place, so that’s a big factor.
“I’ve been the AD here since June of 2008, and we’ve been invited every year but one to play in one of those tournaments. And we’ve respectfully declined every year except last year.”
Last year after losing the Horizon League championship game at Valparaiso, Wright State jumped at the chance to play in the College Basketball Invitational because the team had such a young roster. And by winning two games against Richmond and Tulsa before losing to Santa Clara in the semifinals, it was a great chance to start working toward 2013-14.
“If we weren’t going to do it last year, we were never going to do it, because we were bringing everybody back,” Donlon said. “But this year we have five seniors who play a significant amount. If you play in a tournament, you’re trying to win. You have to play your best guys. So when you’re thinking about it in terms of preparing for next season, how much is it really helping?”
Grant said he will meet with Donlon today and they should have a decision Friday. Not much was discussed Wednesday as the emotions from Tuesday night’s loss were still raw.