Wichita State faces Alabama in NIT final
Gabe Blair and Wichita State may be from a less-heralded "non-BCS" conference, but they have a shot to knock off SEC stalwart Alabama in the NIT final. Credit: AP
Here's the latest variation on this spring's college basketball theme: A so-called mid-major (Wichita State) and a power-conference team (Alabama) meeting on even terms in a significant game (Thursday's NIT final at Madison Square Garden).
"I like to refer to our situation as non-BCS," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "I don't like the term 'mid-major' very much. There are a lot of programs who'd like to have these [Wichita State] players."
Wichita State (28-8) absolutely demolished BCS club member Washington State in Tuesday's NIT semifinal, 75-44, before Alabama (24-11) squeaked past Colorado, 62-61, in a fine show of athleticism and spunk, decided by freshman guard Trevor Releford's winning layup with 12 seconds to play.
Of the four teams, it was Wichita State that brought the highest-wattage performance, throttling junior Klay Thompson -- the Pac-10's leading scorer -- to a six-point game and battering Washington State on the boards 52-25. Wichita State shot far better (58 percent to 29 percent), shared the ball (19 assists) and rode the game-high points (24) and rebounds (11) of 7-foot junior reserve Garrett Stutz.
"The BCS coaches will see our players and go, 'Wait a minute. How did you get him? Where did he come from?' " Marshall said. "But Garrett Stutz had an offer from Kentucky. We try to get guys who not only can play against BCS teams but can beat them."
That, in fact, is how Marshall recruits, he said. "I tell them, 'Come here and we'll beat those [big-name] guys.' "
Alabama coach Anthony Grant, who previously coached that non-BCS Final Four darling Virginia Commonwealth, insisted that he has the same challenges recruiting at Alabama as he did at VCU. But it was Alabama that landed Releford after he was heavily recruited by Wichita State.
Marshall thought he had Releford, who hails from Kansas City, until Releford "blew up" -- suddenly matured his skills as a high school senior -- and had the likes of UCLA suddenly knocking on his door. "It's perception," Marshall said. "In [the recruits'] minds, it's, 'Will it help me get to the NBA?' But we have NBA scouts at our games all the time."
The payoff comes, from the Wichita State viewpoint, when its players get the kind of shot at the power folks such as Thursday, a chance to show they are just as good as the BCSers. "That's probably accurate," Grant said.
