‘Inexcusable!': South Alabama coach blasts NIT for rescinded invite

Washington Post

18-03-2025

A men's college basketball coach blasted the National Invitation Tournament for rescinding its invitation to his program.
'What they did to us last night is inexcusable!' South Alabama's Richie Riley wrote Monday in an X post.
In a statement provided to The Washington Post, South Alabama's athletic director said his department was 'disappointed that the NIT prematurely extended an invitation to our men's basketball team to participate in this year's tournament before confirming a spot was available.'
The episode, which led to an apology from the NIT and a statement of regret from the Sun Belt Conference, unfolded after the announcement of the 68-team NCAA tournament bracket Sunday evening. The NIT then filled its 32-team field with programs not chosen by the NCAA tournament's selection committee.
In comments published Monday by AL.com, Riley said he received a call Sunday night from a pair of NCAA officials, including Dan Gavitt, who oversees the NIT as well as NCAA basketball tournaments. The other official was Keith Gill, vice chair of the NCAA tournament selection committee and also the commissioner of the Sun Belt, to which South Alabama belongs.
Riley said he was told that UC Riverside, which was announced as in the NIT field, had already committed to play in the College Basketball Invitational tournament. That opened a spot in the NIT, Riley said the two officials told him, and he accepted their invitation after getting assurances that a berth was '100 percent' available for South Alabama.
The coach said he then told his players the good news. Late that night, however, he got a call back from Gavitt and Gill, who he said told him UC Riverside was spurning the CBI for the NIT. That left Riley to give his players an unhappy update Monday morning that they were not, in fact, being rewarded for a 21-11 season and a share of the Sun Belt regular season title with a trip to the NIT.
In a statement Monday that the NIT shared on X — while turning off the reply function for its post — it acknowledged that its invitation to the Jaguars was 'prematurely extended.'
'We understand the emotional impact this confusion created and we sincerely apologize to South Alabama, Head Coach Richie Riley, and all the student-athletes for the error,' the statement read.
In a repost of that statement, Riley described it as a 'meaningless apology to the most meaningful group of players I've ever coached!'
'These guys in our locker room don't deserve this,' added the coach, in his seventh season with the Jaguars, 'and it's sad your idea of making it right is a copy and paste apology!'
Riley on Monday also reposted several comments on X critical of the NIT. Another comment suggested the NIT expand its field to 33 to accommodate the Jaguars, who finished with a better mark (123rd) than UC Riverside (142nd) in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, a key metric for the organization. The NIT tips off Tuesday with seven games, including one featuring UC Riverside against Santa Clara.
'Prior to UCR being selected for the NIT, it was announced earlier that the team would be competing in the 2025 [CBI], which the Highlanders were extremely excited about,' UC Riverside said in confirming it would play in the NIT. Its athletic director said that 'garnering the attention of tournament committees is an honor and to receive multiple postseason invitations is indicative of our program's growth.'
Having initially included UC Riverside in its 12-team field, the CBI subsequently shared an updated bracket that omitted the Highlanders and shrunk the field to 11 teams. CBI officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they might try to replace UC Riverside with another program.
Riley told AL.com that his program had an 'NIT-or-bust' mindset and had already ruled out participating in the CBI, which requires an entry fee and is considered less prestigious than the NIT. Having lost in the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament, thus missing out on an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Jaguars had an effective end to their season with the NIT's rescinded invitation.
'It's just unfair for our players,' Riley said. 'We've got a team with zero NIL [revenue from name, image and likeness endorsements]. They're a bunch of underdogs that fought their a — es off. And now I have to tell them they're not in the NIT. It's just an absolute joke.'
In a statement provided to The Post, the Sun Belt said: 'We regret the emotional impact this chain of events had on South Alabama's student-athletes and want to congratulate Sun Belt Coach of the Year Richie Riley and his team on a historic season, including a Sun Belt regular-season co-championship.'
'This was an avoidable situation that has made a negative impact on our student-athletes and coaches,' South Alabama Athletic Director Joel Erdmann said in his statement, 'so we appreciate and acknowledge the NIT's apology.'