The Case For and Against Indiana Basketball Competing in NIT or Crown

Indiana can cancel any plans it may have had for the NCAA Tournament after Wednesday's embarrassing 74-61 loss to No. 15 seed Northwestern (15-18) in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

The Hoosiers collapsed down the stretch of coach Darian DeVries' first season, losing six of its last seven games by an average of 15.3 points. Thanks to failure from fellow bubble teams, Indiana is somehow still the first team out in Joe Lunardi's latest projection, but the bracketologist wrote, "neither [Indiana nor Cal] will be in the NCAA Tournament" following Wednesday's losses.

That means Indiana's season is likely over, unless it were to buck recent trends and accept a bid to a lower-level postseason tournament like the NIT or College Basketball Crown. DeVries' was noncommittal regarding Indiana's postseason plans after Wednesday's loss, so the Hoosiers may wait until Selection Sunday –– when they're officially eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention –– before announcing a decision.

"We haven't really gotten that far yet," DeVries said. "We'll have to talk to administration, coaches, and players and see where that's all at."

The case for Indiana to compete in the NIT or College Basketball Crown

Trent Sisley Indiana Basketball — Indiana Hoosiers forward Trent Sisley (11) drives against Louisville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

These tournaments have proven to be beneficial for teams like Nebraska, which won the Crown last season and improved from 7-13 to 15-5 in Big Ten play this year. It's a chance for teams to build chemistry, young players to get more minutes and coaches to evaluate who can contribute the following season.

For Indiana, that could mean playing Nick Dorn, Trent Sisley, Jasai Miles and Aleksa Ristic as much as possible, with the hope that a few games spark individual improvement heading into next season. DeVries doesn't have any obvious, high-level building blocks for the future, but perhaps these players could make a case for bigger roles down the road.

DeVries said Wednesday he'll talk to the players about postseason competition, and there could be reason for the veterans to want to play. For seniors Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Conor Enright, Tayton Conerway, Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey, it'd be their last chance to play college basketball. Maybe they want to go out on a better note than a 13-point loss to Northwestern, if a few wins in the NIT or Crown would mean anything to them.

None are projected to be high NBA Draft picks either, so they're not necessarily losing time to prepare for the draft or risking injury. Nebraska won $300,000 in NIL money for winning the College Basketball Crown last season, a potentially attractive incentive for Indiana as it evaluates its options.

The case against Indiana competing in the NIT or College Basketball Crown

Tucker DeVries Indiana Basketball — Indiana Hoosiers forwards Tucker DeVries (12) and Sam Alexis (4) against the Wisconsin Badgers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Indiana has more –– and much stronger –– reasons to decline a bid to the NIT or Crown. This was also the route it took under former head coach Mike Woodson, which displays the program's view of these events.

With its top five scorers and starting point guard graduating, the primary focus should turn to building next season's roster. That will be difficult after a mediocre first season under DeVries, who will have to convince recruits they can be successful at Indiana and influence donors to fund the program with enought NIL money to attract talent.

Indiana needs all the time it can get to achieve this, from evaluating portal prospects, to planing visits, making offers and outlining the mission for making next season better. Roster construction was certainly one of DeVries' downfalls this season, so he shouldn't waste any time with the NIT or Crown that could be used focusing on next season instead.

If Indiana were to compete in the NIT or Crown, any development from younger players would be minimal and pale in comparison to what can be gained from recruiting and planning for next season. The seniors already had plenty of chances to end their careers on a higher note.

Another factor to consider is that the Crown is played in Las Vegas, and Indiana wouldn't be able to host recruiting visits during this time. If it were to play at Assembly Hall as part of the NIT, subjecting the team to an understandably frustrated home crowd helps no one, if any fans were to show up in the first place.

So altogether, little to nothing can be gained by playing a few more games in the NIT or Crown when considering the program's long-term outlook. It will be crucial for DeVries to show noticeable improvement in his second season, and the best way to do that is by immediately focusing on building a better roster moving forward and learning lessons from an 18-14 season.