We Turned Down an NIT Offer! Why?

[jjjacks17]

Take down all the NIT banners post 1977 then if this is our stance

[dadster81]

A couple of thoughts
- if we won the League tournament, would we have turned down the NCAAs because of injury, travel considerations?
- I contribute to the BAF - I guess my contribution size was not large enough to make the call cut
- This issue does have bigger implications (at least to me)
= do the players care that little about the team, the school, etc. to potentially blow off an NIT bid
= if yes, how does this affect our rabid fan base
= back to my earlier statement re the scholarships, and now lets add NIL $ to it - where is the agreement between say employer and employee - we give you $$$ or free education in exchange for what?
= I love Bonas, I am very thankful for the education that I received, and as I mentioned in another thread, my best friend from Bonas recently passed away, and I will be attending the services with a bunch of Bona friends. All strong ties to Bonas for forty years. So it is easy for me to support the school. However, this particular event, even if would not received a NIT bid anyways, does make me think ALOT less of the state of MBB. The School could have waited to see if they got an offer before turning it down (no offer, no controversy) they could have handled this days earlier, and probably alot of other ideas that I am not thinking of right now. So I am truly sad today.

[atlbonnie87]

I am not a fan of that. Proactively saying we don’t want one isn’t any better. We can’t afford a bus trip to Seton Hall or Villanova? Get the F out of here? That’s awful.

[bonaboy23]

How does proactively turning down post season play opportunities support recruiting? So we get thumped because we show up with 7 players...At least we can say we got NIT bid...Did Rhody? Fordham? G.Mason? etc etc? Would they say no thanks...

[eks2002]

I agree that this is a third day cop out and if this is what really happened l, it should have been public knowledge back on Sunday night.
Now for the reality of the situation, the reasoning does make sense even if I do not like it. Or at least the player issues. From the game on Saturday, Brown was hurt, Venning has an injury, Evans, Luc, Martinez leaving put us in a bad spot. I think Pride and MAW could leave school tomorrow if they could. It doesn’t make it right but believable.


The logistic piece is a bunch of BS.

[gregmitch70]

MIchael Seitz, 2023 Bona grad and sportwriter who covered team for SBUnfurled, tweets: "This is exactly the generic wishy-washy answer I expected from the university. What’s a joke. If I’m a player looking at schools, this whole situation would have knocked St. Bonaventure off my list."

[faffy444]

players not involved in the decision, and the transfer portal , roster uncertainty i guess if the players were more interested in entering the portal instead of playing they were involved in the decision. the only part of the statement i buy is the injury part.

[bonagoose]

Mar 20, 2024 11:45:35 GMT -5 atlbonnie87 said:

I am not a fan of that. Proactively saying we don’t want one isn’t any better. We can’t afford a bus trip to Seton Hall or Villanova? Get the F out of here? That’s awful.

1- If we’re too injured - were we too injured to win two games in the A-10 tournament? Was pretty clear we had players playing hurt for several weeks. This is Bonaventure. Play.

2- If we can’t afford it - donors should be asking for an accounting of every cent. But on top of that, make that clear to donors. I guarantee you will get your $.

3- This University does not quit. It’s why the 2002-2003 ending was so disgusting to us all. I agree with the poster that said to take down every NIT banner if this is what we do.

4- Fine. You made the decision. It’s terrible and I disagree vehemently. Communicate to your team and the community!!!!

5- Fire Manhertz. Schmidt deserves a second chance as he has stuck with this University over two decades (and been paid handsomely for it). Manhertz clearly does not understand this place and deserves nothing. Bye.

[atlbonnie87]

We deserve so much better than this. I don’t want to get into too much of a tailspin because of an NIT bid — that we probably would have lost in opening round. But, as someone who traveled from Atlanta to MSG for the NIT two years ago (and had an absolute blast despite losing as we took the building over), I have three major issues with this:

- if you want to skip the NIT because you think you’re better than the tournament, ok. I disagree, but don’t blame it on injuries. That’s horse shit.
- if you think that way, you better inform your players of that decision.
- if you think that way, you better inform your fans of that decision. They waited 3 days because they clearly thought nobody would find out. And that’s not the type of leadership I want at this program.


By the way, we’re not too good for the NIT. I’m severely disappointed. And even more disappointed that the decision to communicate (three days later when backed into a corner) was through top money donors. Infuriating.

[kccgold]

Just a terrible job by Manhertz and I've defended him in the past, which I now regret.

So against everything we have stood for at Bonaventure and unforgivable how it was handled. I hope the Board of Trustees takes action in some way

[gregmitch70]

Mar 20, 2024 11:52:46 GMT -5 bonaboy23 said:

How does proactively turning down post season play opportunities support recruiting? So we get thumped because we show up with 7 players...At least we can say we got NIT bid...Did Rhody? Fordham? G.Mason? etc etc? Would they say no thanks...

Only injured players were Chad and Noel who both played vs. Dukes though banged up.  

Have to wonder if Barry would have put off portal entry Monday if had accepted NIT bid on Sunday and had chance to show his stuff (probably with many minutes, if injuries really a factor with big men).  

[faffy444]

the school should have put out a statement sunday afternoon BEFORE the selection process stating they would not accept an NIT bid if offered

[bonaboy23]

They did put out that statement on Sunday LOL...it just went to the NIT committee ....ugh

[gregmitch70]

Will be even worse if it turns out--we have rumors only right now--that the players were not told we had opted out and given impression we simply were not picked. Imagine if Banks or someone goes on Twitter and indicates such....and fallout for recruiting...

[u518370]

While I don't love it, I understand it.

Between the new selection criteria further favoring the P6 conferences, and the fact that the FF is no longer being held in MSG, this isn't the same event it has been in the past. That said, I think we should always be looking for opportunities to gain exposure by playing the P6 schools that we struggle to schedule.

The fact that the ESPN graphic cited 16 other schools that declined to participate shows that this is not an SBU specific issue.

In addition to the obvious injuries that our centers were battling, the coaching staff was very likely aware of the pending decisions of Evans, Luc and Martinez to enter the portal. This created a situation where the upside of accepting an NIT bid was simply outweighed by the downside. is it possible a small group of committed, healthy players could have rallied to make a run that benefited all of the SBU basketball stakeholders? Sure. Is it likely. No. Again, we are far from the only school to arrive at this conclusion.

This is a brave new world that we are operating in and I think the decision makers at SBU are right to consider the "temperature" of the room (in other words, the motivation of the players) when making this decision. They obviously have more information than us in that regard, so I'm going to trust that the call they made is appropriate.

Furthermore, I don't think we truly deserved a spot in the NIT field. We will never know for sure, but if not for the 16 other schools declining to participate I think SBU is on the wrong side of the line in terms of filling out the field.

I sincerely hope the NCAA reconsiders the timing of the transfer portal opening, because that is really at the root of these decisions.

Go Bonnies!