For those who may be hazy on our last NIT appearance, that was the 2010 team. That team - despite several really good players we might be happy to have today - went 16-15 in the regular season, 5-11 in the ACC. And then got knocked out in the 1st round of the ACCT.
Even if we lose the rest of our games - a virtual impossibility - we'll end up better than that in conference. But we would tie that 16-15 overall W-L record - which was the 3rd worst in my lifetime (after 2002's 8-20 and 2020's 14-19) .
That 2010 team went to the NIT and went 4-1, losing in the championship game to a good Dayton squad. We were a 4 seed, Dayton was a 3 seed. Seth Greenberg's best VaTech team was a 1 seed and lasted 3 rounds.
Which good players might we want from our 2010 team, you may ask? I'm thinking Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Ed Davis, with defensive help and basketball IQ from Marcus Ginyard. Sure, a couple of those guys were pre or post their prime, but they would be welcome today.
If I could only pick 1 it would probably be Zeller. IIRC, he had been injured early on, but came back and was performing well by season's end. It took John Henson the whole season to figure it out but he was also performing well at the end. So he'd be a good choice, too. On a team known for chemistry problems, they weren't part of that. So, yeah, give me one of those.
Anyway, the thing about the NIT is that it turned a demoralized, struggling team into an actual team that we knew would be much better the next year. And it was. Sure, it didn't hurt that we also added a couple of ready-to-play freshmen (Barnes and Marshall), but the NIT was a huge part of turning things around.
I don't know if a detour to the NIT would be as beneficial to this group as it was in 2010, but f that's our path, we can hope.
Even if we lose the rest of our games - a virtual impossibility - we'll end up better than that in conference. But we would tie that 16-15 overall W-L record - which was the 3rd worst in my lifetime (after 2002's 8-20 and 2020's 14-19) .
That 2010 team went to the NIT and went 4-1, losing in the championship game to a good Dayton squad. We were a 4 seed, Dayton was a 3 seed. Seth Greenberg's best VaTech team was a 1 seed and lasted 3 rounds.
Which good players might we want from our 2010 team, you may ask? I'm thinking Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Ed Davis, with defensive help and basketball IQ from Marcus Ginyard. Sure, a couple of those guys were pre or post their prime, but they would be welcome today.
If I could only pick 1 it would probably be Zeller. IIRC, he had been injured early on, but came back and was performing well by season's end. It took John Henson the whole season to figure it out but he was also performing well at the end. So he'd be a good choice, too. On a team known for chemistry problems, they weren't part of that. So, yeah, give me one of those.
Anyway, the thing about the NIT is that it turned a demoralized, struggling team into an actual team that we knew would be much better the next year. And it was. Sure, it didn't hurt that we also added a couple of ready-to-play freshmen (Barnes and Marshall), but the NIT was a huge part of turning things around.
I don't know if a detour to the NIT would be as beneficial to this group as it was in 2010, but f that's our path, we can hope.
