WSU has much to consider before accepting postseason bid

“It’s not as easy as ‘Hey, we’re invited, let’s go,’ ” Grant said. “There are so many other factors involved.”

There are travel costs if it’s a road game. And if a home game is offered, there are guarantees and commitments to play in other tournaments down the road. And at the top of the list is the physical and mental well-being of the student athletes.

“There are other important things, such as how are the kids feeling? Do they have any basketball left in them,” Grant added. “How banged up are we? How are we academically? This is not a win-at-all-costs place, so that’s a big factor.

“I’ve been the AD here since June of 2008, and we’ve been invited every year but one to play in one of those tournaments. And we’ve respectfully declined every year except last year.”

Last year after losing the Horizon League championship game at Valparaiso, Wright State jumped at the chance to play in the College Basketball Invitational because the team had such a young roster. And by winning two games against Richmond and Tulsa before losing to Santa Clara in the semifinals, it was a great chance to start working toward 2013-14.

“If we weren’t going to do it last year, we were never going to do it, because we were bringing everybody back,” Donlon said. “But this year we have five seniors who play a significant amount. If you play in a tournament, you’re trying to win. You have to play your best guys. So when you’re thinking about it in terms of preparing for next season, how much is it really helping?”

Grant said he will meet with Donlon today and they should have a decision Friday. Not much was discussed Wednesday as the emotions from Tuesday night’s loss were still raw.

“I’ve been in the business for 20 years, and this is probably about as sick as I’ve been,” Grant said. “One of my roles as AD and one of my strengths is being upbeat and keeping our staff upbeat, but it was a pretty blue mood in office.”

And as bad as it was Wednesday, Donlon said he knows the worst is yet to come.

“It really hurt right after the game and it hurt all day (Wednesday), but Sunday is when it’s going to sting the most when the selection show comes on, especially for our seniors,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much pain I feel for those guys. I’ll have more opportunities to coach and get to an NCAA tournament. But man, those five seniors, I just feel awful for them.”