Former men’s college basketball head coach Tom Crean went on an passionate rant on ESPN Sunday night to express why he thinks big-name schools that didn’t make the NCAA tournament field should accept bids to the NIT.
Some of the notable teams that spurned this year’s NIT are St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Ole Miss, Indiana and Oklahoma.
Crean, who coached Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, took his teams to four NITs, so he can see firsthand the benefits of playing in the second-tier tournament.