Porter Moser Says Oklahoma Was Given 15 Minutes to Decide on Playing in the NIT
While Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners elected to decline the invite to play in the 2024 NIT Tournament, the Oklahoma head coach mentioned that the team was put in a corner with a tight deadline to decide whether or not to participate.
Moser spoke to media members for the first time since missing the 2024 NCAA Tournament and alluded to his team only being given roughly 15 minutes to decide if they would play in the NIT.
According to a report from Sooners Illustrated’s Josh Callaway, Moser mentioned that the team was given 15-20 minutes to make their decision on the NIT. After enough guys declined in the room, Moser made the call to turn down the tournament offer. Moser debunked any objection or disrespectful intent to the NIT and cited that the decision came down to a room full of devastated and blindsided players.
“The raw emotion in that room was so real,” Moser said. “These unbelievable young men—the tears, hugging each other, the disbelief, the anger, the range of emotions was raw. Trying to find the words to explain to them, I had none.”
Moser then spoke on the flawed metrics the NCAA Selection Committee used to determine which teams were given NCAA Tournament bids and the fact that multiple experts could not explain why the Sooners were left out.
Just or not, the Sooners now head into the offseason for the final time as members of the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma will officially join the Texas Longhorns in the SEC on Monday, July 1st.
