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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Even NIT snubs Huskies

Gregg Bell Associated Press

SEATTLE – The Washington Huskies were dressed and taped for their first practice to ready for the upcoming NIT tournament.

On their way to the court, they stopped inside their locker room Sunday night to watch the NIT pairings being announced on television, to see whether they could get another home game for the first round.

Instead, they got nothing. Their season is over.

The NIT’s message became stunningly clear: The young, uneven Huskies (19-12) are not only not worthy of being one of the 65 teams in the NCAA tournament for a school-record fourth consecutive time, they don’t even merit the 32-team consolation tournament.

“There’s no way in the world we should not be in the NIT,” a stunned coach Lorenzo Romar said after ending a meeting that suddenly went from pre-practice TV gathering to an end-of-the-season talk.

“I have no idea why. None that I could imagine or conjure up.”

UW athletic director Todd Turner is a friend and former associate of C.M. Newton from when Turner was the A.D. at Vanderbilt. Newton is the chairman of the eight-man committee that selected the NIT field.

Last week, Turner called Newton to lobby his pal to select Washington to host a first-round NIT game, if the Huskies didn’t advance far enough in the Pac-10 tournament to make the NCAA. Washington lost for the third time this season to NCAA-bound Washington State in the conference quarterfinals on Friday.

“I’m just absolutely stunned … Here we were wondering if we were going to get a home game and be one of the top 16 seeds in the NIT,” Turner said on the telephone Sunday night.

“I just don’t know what their criteria was. Surely we’re one of the top 96 teams in the country.”

Not to the NIT. The nation’s oldest tournament has downsized from 40 to 32 teams, now has that NCAA-like selection committee and for the first time had to take eight regular-season conference champions that did not qualify for the NCAA.

But as Turner pointed out about the NIT, “Utah State (23-11) made it. They were fourth in their conference. What league are they in? The WAC? I don’t even know.”

After the non-announcement, Romar said he went back through the brackets to make sure he didn’t miss his team’s name.

Freshman center Spencer Hawes said he thought “it must have been a typo.”

Then Hawes went out to shoot some on the Hec Edmundson Pavilion floor – for perhaps the last time. Washington’s new freshman record holder for points and blocked shots has hinted he will leave UW after one season to enter this summer’s NBA draft.

Sunday night, the 7-footer, who struggled with injuries for much of the season, wouldn’t say whether being on the first Washington team since 2003 not to make the postseason will be a factor in his decision to stay or go.

“It could figure in, or it couldn’t,” Hawes said. “That’s the last thing on my mind right now.”

Romar said he couldn’t even assess Washington’s season Sunday evening, one in which Washington beat four NCAA tournament teams but also was just 1-10 on the road.

“No. Another time,” he said.