South Alabama Jaguars coach Richie Riley blasted the NIT after the initial invitation his team received was later revoked.
South Alabama originally received an invitation to the NIT, only for that invitation to be revoked hours later thanks to a mix-up involving another team.
Regardless of the cause of the error, Riley was furious on behalf of his team. He posted a message on X Monday in response to the NIT’s own public statement, dismissing the tournament’s apology as insincere and meaningless.
“A meaningless apology to the most meaningful group of players I’ve ever coached!” Riley wrote. “What they did to us last night is inexcusable! These guys in our locker room don’t deserve this and it’s sad your idea of making it right is a copy and paste apology!”
A meaningless apology to the most meaningful group of players I’ve ever coached! What they did to us last night is inexcusable! These guys in our locker room don’t deserve this and it’s sad your idea of making it right is a copy and paste apology! https://t.co/NnxXPOYDSX
— Richie Riley (@USAJagsCoachRR) March 17, 2025
In separate comments, Riley called the situation a “joke.”
“It’s just unfair for our players,” Riley said, via Creg Stephenson of AL.com. “We’ve got a team with zero NIL. They’re a bunch of underdogs that fought their a–es off. And now I have to tell them they’re not in the NIT. It’s just an absolute joke.”
Riley added that the team would not accept an invite to the CBI. Unlike the NIT, the CBI is not run by the NCAA, and invited teams must pay an entry fee to participate.
Riley just finished his seventh season as South Alabama’s head coach. This would have been his first NIT appearance, though his team did make the semifinals of The Basketball Classic, a now-defunct postseason tournament that took place in 2022.
The Jaguars went 21-11 on the season and won a share of the Sun Belt regular season title. They ultimately fell in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
