Husky Men's Basketball Blog

Somebody asked for some player reaction about the NIT snub. So here you go:

FROM SPENCER HAWES:

"We were shocked. I'm still shocked. We sat there and went through all four regions and we kind of thought it was a typo. We kept waiting for our name to come up.

"To think we are not one of the top 65 teams in the nation is hard for us to swallow. To say we didn't merit the NIT as well is unbelievable.''

"I think they say they go off a lot of the same criteria as the NCAA Committee. Maybe our record away from home might have been something that got us, but I think we feel as everyone else feels that the Pac-10 is one of the best conferences in the country and to go almost .500 in that and not make the NIT is tough to swallow.''

On whether anyone imagined the season could be over after leaving LA: "No, we all thought we were close down there to getting an NCAA berth if we could have gotten through the tournament. I don't think it went through anyone's mind that we wouldn't get in the NIT.''

On what he did: "The first thing I did was I went and got a ball and started shooting. It's the only thing you can really do to keep your mind off it.''

On whether it was his last game as a Husky and if the snub could influence his decision: "I don't know. It could figure into it, it could not. I'd say that's the last thing on my mind right now.''

On what the team did: "Everyone kind of just sat there, no one said anything. Everyone was equally shocked to hear the news.''

"To suggest we are not as good as any of the teams in there is almost a joke.''

On whether he will spend a lot of time wondering how close the Huskies were to winning a few more games this year: "Especially now, if you get caught up in that and start thinking about that, you'll just drive yourself crazy.''

FROM QUINCY PONDEXTER

"It's a great shock. I thought for sure (the team would be invited). I was thinking we were still possibly going to sneak in the NCAA tournament. To not make the NIT is tough.''

If you want to vent, here's a list of the members of the eight-person selection committee along with their e-mail addresses.

The head of the committee, you'll notice, is C.M. Newton, a former basketball coach at Vanderbilt and someone UW athletic director Todd Turner knows well (Turner was AD at Vanderbilt before coming to UW but not when Newton was coach).

Also on the committee are former coaches such as Dean Smith, Gene Keady and Don DeVoe. Hard to argue that those guys don't know basketball, obviously, which makes this all that much more difficult to figure out.

Here, also, is our story on the snub, with a few more details than I posted earlier.

The Huskies were so confident an NIT bid was coming that they were taped up and ready to practice tonight after hearing the news.

Instead, they watched in disbelief as they were not picked for the NIT.

"There's no way in the world I would say we would not be in the NIT,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "I am completely stunned.''

Asked if he had any idea why, he said "no. No idea why. There's not one I can imagine or conjure up in my mind.''

If I saw the brackets right, the Huskies weren't invited to the NIT.

We'll obviously have more on this later but it looks like the season is over.

The final NIT-ology is out and has Washington as a No. 5 seed playing Mississippi State in the first round.

Interesting to think about, anyway, as the brackets are about 90 minutes away from being released.

As I look at the projections, the main thing that comes to mind is how many good teams there could be in the NIT --- Alabama, Kansas State, Air Force, Drexel. A consolation prize, to be sure, but still a lot of good basketball possible.

The Pac-10 has nothing to complain about this year.

Three teams seeded among the top 16, six teams invited overall for the first time since 2002 --- the only other time six teams received bids.

And Stanford being an 11 seed theoretically means that the Cardinal wasn't even the last time invited when many of the bracketologists figured Stanford wasn't in at all.

More later.

It will be a different type of Selection Sunday for the Huskies as they wait for the NIT brackets to be announced rather than the NCAA Tournament.

I wrote about that in this story here today. The NIT brackets will be announced at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

NIT-ology still has UW as a No. 6 seed which would mean a road game in the first round and likely a pretty quick turnaround with first-round games Tuesday and Wednesday.

I know there's a lot of interest in the players arriving next year. Here's a good feature on Justin Holiday from the Los Angeles Daily News. One minor clarification to the story --- it says Holiday has committed to UW. But he has done more than that as he signed his letter-of-intent in November.

And here is the story on Campbell Hall's win in the regional semifinals Saturday night. Story says Justin Holiday had 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals, two blocks and played some good defensne on the star player for the other team --- headed to Penn --- in the second half.

When we all talk about players who will help improve the perimeter defense next season, Holiday --- who stands 6-6 --- shouldn't be forgotten.