The CIT
There is no doubt that the goal of every college basketball team is to get to the NCAA Tournament.
Tournaments such as the NIT, and now the CBI and CIT, are relegated to secondary status, and understandably so – to a point.
But here is what a tournament like the CIT is about, from a player’s perspective:
“It’s an opportunity to keep playing,” Donald Sims of Appalachian State said.
“There are 200 and some teams sitting at home. We’re fortunate enough to still be playing.
“It is disappointing not to get to go to the NCAA, but it’s a chance to play the game we love…. It is an opportunity to keep playing and hopefully we can go out on a special note and win this whole tournament.”
Appalachian’s season will continue Monday in a quarterfinal game of the CIT at Marshall, an old Southern Conference rival.
Kellen Brand, a senior, said that he thinks constantly about how every game now could be his last.
“I get a chance to step out on the floor with my guys once again,” Brand said. “It’s going to be tough to leave because of all the bonds and friendships that I’ve made. I’ve had fun since the first day I came up here. I use that as something to motivate me and I use that as a reminder to the other seniors, that we can’t give up and we still have something to prove.”