As the scheduled games came to a close Thursday night, Penn State Basketball gave their first glimpse about potential post-season basketball.
After falling to Wisconsin in (typical) heartbreaking fashion to finish the season at 11-14, the NCAA Tournament hopes are clearly over.
However, thanks to a top-40 KenPom and Net Ranking, could Penn State Basketball make the NIT with their sub .500 record?
This is an odd year for the NIT, and we’ve mentioned multiple there’s no guarantee AD Sandy Barbour would even allow them to play in the NIT. Heck, the Nittany Lions can’t even wear blue or grey jerseys on the road anymore for some odd reason.
But check out with Head Coach Jim Ferry said in the post-game press conference tonight:
Jim Ferry: "We will absolutely play in the NIT, if invited."
— Justin Morganstein (@JmoTweets_) March 12, 2021
This was the first mention of any post-season possibilities by anyone within the Penn State system.
Jim Ferry is confirming that the team is looking to continue the season if the NIT comes calling.
The question now is will the NIT find Penn State Basketball’s sub .500 record worthy of consideration?
One thing is for sure, this team plays with incredible heart, and is completely deserving of post-season basketball.
The NIT won’t play their final games in Madison Square Garden like normal, but Texas sounds as nice as anywhere to me.
Maybe #theclimb isn’t quite completely dead yet…