I'm not sure the timing is a problem there. Pitino was mocked here for basically giving that as one of the reasons they weren't going to play in the NIT last year. When in reality they had all these 1 year eligibility kids he brought over to form a roster year 1, and some of those kids had legit professional options, so it seemed pretty clear they wanted to move forward with that aspect of their lives rather than play and risk injury in a relatively meaningless tournament.John hints that the NIT is one of the reasons that this year's squad is so weak with the staff getting off to a slow start in 2024-25 recruiting.
Was the NIT victory worth the pain of this season?