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Home > Blogs > Wright State University sports > Archives > 2010 > March > 14
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Raiders ready to shut it down
FAIRBORN — Unless a bunch of teams turn down bids from the NIT, it appears the Wright State men’s basketball season ends here.
And tonight, no teams did turn down NIT bids, so the Raiders are through.
“I don’t think we’re going to play in anything now,” said WSU coach Brad Brownell, whose team has four straight 20-win seasons but hasn’t played in the post-season since the first of those.
“If we had gotten an NIT bid, we would probably do it, but those other tournaments (the CBI and CollegeInsider) present some challenges. They cost money to play in and if we had a road game, our kids have been on the road for awhile.
“We also have finals week beginning Monday. We might have worked things out for the NIT, because it has been around a lot longer.
“Our guys are down right now, and I think you’ve got to be really excited to play.”
WSU was a game away from making the NCAA field — the Raiders’ goal all season — but fell in the Horizon League tournament championship game 70-45 to Butler, a team that finished 28-4 and ranked No. 12 in the nation.
Wright State is 20-12, losing all three games it played against Butler. The Raiders also lost to NCAA participants Washington and Ohio University by five each.
The Raiders lost four other games — to Northeastern, Miami, Loyola and Green Bay — by three points or less.
By most accounts, it was a successful season and the players — especially seniors Todd Brown, Cory Cooperwood, Ronnie Thomas and John David Gardner should feel that way.
Brown became the first WSU player in the school’s Division I history to play on four 20-win teams. He also finished his career at the ninth best scorer in team history.
Thomas, a transfer from Duquesne, was around for all four of those seasons, playing in the last three. Cooperwood, a junior college transfer, played on the last two.
Gardner, also a transfer (from North Carolina-Wilmington), played in parts of three seasons, but injuries kept him sidelined, especially this season, when his good health was much anticipated.
Instead, hip and foot injuries sidelined him for all but four games. He was available for inspiration, but, in the end, the Raiders needed just a little bit more.
“We want to keep our options open on those other tournaments for other years,” WSU athletics director Bob Grant said, “but for this year, it just didn’t seem to be the thing to do.”
