After another impressive performance in the final game of the 2018 National Invitation Tournament, the springboard has officially been set for Penn State next season.
The Nittany Lions finished off a strong postseason run and a season on the rise overall with an 82-66 win over Utah in the NIT final in New York City. And after finishing with 26 wins-the second-highest total in school history and with the possibility of returning four of five starters next year-including a legitimate Big Ten player of the year candidate-there’s a good chance of a buzz about Penn State this summer and in the lead-up to next season.
The Nittany Lions were clearly the best of the final four teams remaining at Madison Square Garden. After a blowout of a good Mississippi State team in the semifinals, Penn State took over Thursday night midway through the second half. Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens formed a quitely lethal 1-2 punch all season, and this time Stevens played the lead role while the star Carr added 15 points, nine rebounds and a whopping 14 assists.
Penn State was an NCAA Tournament-caliber team this year that didn’t quite have the resume to be there, missing most of its chances to impress-three wins over Ohio State aside-and also done in by the Big Ten’s overall slumping year. It handled the NIT exactly as a team like it should, though, led by a starting five that was really good, with Carr and senior Shep Garner combining for over 200 three-pointers just between them on a potent offense.
Whether Carr returns or heads to the NBA will affect expectations for PSU. If he does, though, the Nittany Lions will likely be seen very similarly as 2017 NIT champion TCU was, as a team on the rise that may well appear in top 25 polls before the season. Without him, it’s still a good team but one that will have two significant holes to fill with Garner also departing after setting a Big Ten record for three-pointers made in a season.
(Also, the NIT games at MSG showed that Penn State apparently has basketball fans. Who knew? More than 11,000 total were on hand for this one, the largest crowd for an NIT final in 13 years, and a good number of them cheering PSU. Great to see them there, but hopefully these souls can make their way to the Bryce Jordan Center next year to turn a dreary home court atmosphere more in their team’s favor.)
For Utah, there’s little to be ashamed of. The Utes had a very solid season worthy of an NIT bid and then made a good run through the tournament, blowing out LSU and also emerging from three close games. A thin team like Penn State, it finally ran out of gas in the NIT final, but four senior starters went out with a more than respectable postseason performance that-like Penn State with the Big Ten-allowed the Pac-12 to save a little face for this season.
Side Dishes:
- On an otherwise quiet news day, a semi-bombshell dropped in the afternoon when it was revealed that Syracuse recruit Darius Bazley has decommitted and plans to sign with the NBA’s developmental league. The McDonald’s All-American is the first to bypass college to go this route, and undoubtedly how it works out for him will be closely watched.
From this end, it’s pretty simple: it may sound a tad harsh, but if a player doesn’t want to be a part of college athletics, then they shouldn’t be, and the show will go on just fine without them. If we’re a culture that values education as much as we claim to, then it should be unfortunate to see someone turn down the wonderful opportunity for a free college education, to say nothing of what for most is a terrific life experience competing in college athletics. (Though the never-ending news of transfers every day this time of year sadly shows this experience apparently now holds little value to many participants beyond a solely utilitarian one.)
On the other hand, if that college education is not something of value to Bazley, then it’s a win-win for all. He is making a good choice to get started in the working world, and college basketball will be better for it, too. The sport needs more student-athletes competing in it who value the educational opportunity they receive, not less. In fact, if it takes a mass exodus of high schoolers to the NBA’s minor league to get college sports closer to what it should be-a place for young adults to get an education and compete at a high level (with the balance of those two sides at least as close to equal as possible)-then let the exodus begin. - Among NBA Draft entry news from Thursday, Wichita State guard Landry Shamet announced that he is planning to enter the draft and also plans to sign with an agent, ending his college career for the Shockers, who are going to have an almost all-new look next year now after losing six seniors plus Shamet now. Also, UCLA guard Jaylen Hands will declare for the draft, though he is not hiring an agent. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 9.9 points and 2.6 assists per game as a freshman, numbers that would seem to make it obvious that he needs more seasoning in college.
- The Associated Press announced its award for top player and top coach on Thursday, with Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Virginia’s Tony Bennett taking the respective honors. Great choices, both of them.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The CBI’s winner-take-all title game takes place with San Francisco at North Texas in the deciding game of the best-of-three series (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPNU). We’ll see if the Mean Green’s physicality or the Dons’ three-point shooting and depth prevails after each team was in control on its homecourt in the first two games.
- Playing at the exact same time unfortunately is the CIT final, with Illinois-Chicago at Northern Colorado (7 p.m., CBSSN). UIC has played just fine without forward Dikembe Dixson, who is not participating in the tourney after announcing he will be going pro, and we’re seeing in this tourney why the Flames-with a number of offensive weapons and tough defense when so motivated-were such an attractive team before the season. The Bears, meanwhile, have had a very nice season-25 wins coming into this one-and senior Andre Spight (40 points in the semifinals against Sam Houston State) is the type of scorer who can put UIC in retreat mode.
A blessed Good Friday and have a happy Final Four and Easter weekend.
