Wes Miller on Accepting NIT Bid: ‘I Can’t Imagine Turning Down an Opportunity to Coach’
While Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats missed out on receiving an invite to the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati accepted a bid to take the court in the NIT Tournament.
With the trend of declining NIT Tournament bids continuing to grow in college basketball, Miller was asked for his stance on the topic and brought it back to his love of coaching.
“I love coaching,” Miller said “I love coaching these guys in this locker room and I can’t imagine having an opportunity to coach these guys and turning that down. I can’t imagine having a chance to coach a game at Cincinnati and turning that down. I’m too passionate and I have too much love for what we do and who we do it with. I can’t imagine not playing.”
While Miller mentioned his excitement to take the court again with his team, he didn’t shy away from mentioning disappointment in not reaching the NCAA Tournament.
“Now, like our players and like our fans I’m extremely disappointed that we’re not playing in the NCAA Tournament. I was really down about that and I’m still disappointed about it, but I can put it into perspective, in a really quick period of time, that as down as I am about that I’m not going to miss an opportunity to do what I love to do.”
Miller finished his statement by saying, “This is a blessing, this is a gift. I can’t imagine not having this opportunity to play for something that’s a big deal. It’s not the NCAA Tournament but the NIT’s a big deal. Having a chance to win a tournament, get a banner and a ring, that’s a big damn deal, and having a chance to do it here with these guys, I couldn’t fathom not doing that.”
Miller and the Bearcats take the court in the first round of the NIT Tournament on Wednesday, March 20th at 8:00 p.m. CT against the San Francisco Dons.
