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The conversation surrounding the health of SMU guard BJ Edwards sparked a lot of outrage Wednesday night before the Mustangs had even started their game against Miami (OH).
For two days leading up to “Selection Sunday,” Edwards’ injury status was a topic of discussion as to whether SMU deserved to be on the field. On paper, of course, his resume looked like a team that would deserve to break out of the bubble and enter the “top four.”
But, with comments from NCAA selection committee chairman Keith Gill, the outrage seemed to gain momentum following the Mustangs’ 89-79 loss to the RedHawks.
What was the deciding factor in SMU taking the field?
“One of their important players, (BJ) Edwards, lost five of six games,” NCAA selection committee chairman Keith Gill said of SMU. “He’s coming back. He’s the third-highest scorer, defensive player. And so the quality of the wins and obviously getting back to full strength kind of got them that last spot.”
Did SMU mislead the NCAA? BJ Edwards not playing against Miami (OH) raises ethics concerns
Okay, so they trusted a school that was on the bubble to give correct information on the availability of a player with a tournament spot on the line.
Sorry, NCAA, it’s your fault. Just making the tournament is a financial gain for the Mustangs, and perhaps they actually thought Edwards would be available for the opener against Miami (OH).
Did SMU fight its way into the NCAA tournament with BJ Edwards’ health? They could have misled the committee (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Maybe the NCAA learned a lesson with SMU
The problem was there was no guarantee he would play. Even if SMU releases a statement on social media and lets committee members know that it “expects” BJ Edwards to play in the home opener, you can’t trust schools to be 100% truthful about a player’s health until they have to.
So when the final injury report was released two hours before Wednesday night’s game and Edwards was listed as “out,” it was questionable whether SMU had gamed the system.
After the 89-79 loss, SMU head coach Andy Enfield was asked about the events that led to Edwards not taking the court.
“He looked really good in practice today, the last few days he’s been shooting the ball well,” Enfield said after the loss. “He moves well, but I think there’s a thing called game readiness, and he just didn’t feel like he was quite ready for the game. He said, ‘I could definitely play Friday, if we win this game,’ he definitely would play Friday, but he just wasn’t quite ready for the game.
“Really, it was probably a short day.”
OutKick spoke with a Power-4 head coach Thursday morning, who had this to say about the ordeal.
“I’m sure young Edwards intended to play. But if you’re counting on the school to give you complete transparency with a tournament berth on the line, credit to the NCAA for relaying the message that that was one of the main reasons they got in. What’s SMU supposed to say? They weren’t going to suggest he’d be ready by the second game, but not the first.
“If that were the case, it doesn’t appear the NCAA would have included them.”
Either way, I hope the NCAA learned a lesson from this ordeal.
And next time, I imagine the selection committee won’t trust the availability report of a team on the bubble or a team looking to increase its seeding in the tournament.
