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Conversation about SMU guard BJ Edwards’ health generated a lot of outrage Wednesday night before the Mustangs began their game against Miami (OH).
For the two days leading up to ‘Selection Sunday,’ Edwards’ injury status was a topic of conversation about whether SMU deserved to be on the field. On paper, their resume sure looked like a team worthy of jumping out of the bubble and into the “top four.”
But with comments from NCAA Selection Committee Chairman Keith Gill, the outrage seemed to take on a life of its own following the Mustangs’ 89-79 loss to the RedHawks.
What was the deciding factor for SMU getting on the field?
“One of their big players, (BJ) Edwards, lost five of six of those games,” NCAA selection committee chairman Keith Gill said of SMU. “He’s coming back. He’s the third leading scorer, defensive player. And then the quality of the wins and obviously the fact that they’re back to full strength allowed them to get that last spot.”
Did SMU fool the NCAA? BJ Edwards not playing against Miami (OH) raises ethical concerns
Okay, so they relied on a school that was on the bubble to provide correct information about the availability of a player with a tournament berth on the line.
Sorry, NCAA, that’s up to you. Just participating in the tournament is a financial win for the Mustangs, and perhaps they really thought Edwards would be available for the opener against Miami (OH).
Did SMU make its way into the NCAA tournament with BJ Edwards’ health status? They could have misled the committee (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Maybe the NCAA learned a lesson with SMU
The problem was that there was no guarantee that he would play. Even with SMU releasing a statement on social media and informing committee members that it “expected” BJ Edwards to play in the opener, schools cannot be trusted to be 100 percent truthful about a player’s health until they are forced to do so.
So when the final injury report came out two hours before Wednesday night’s game and Edwards was listed as “out,” it was questionable whether SMU had used 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 couple of days, he shot the ball well,” Enfield said after the loss. “He’s moving well, but I think there’s something called game readiness, and he just didn’t feel like he was ready for the game. He said, ‘He could definitely play on Friday, if we win this game,’ he’ll definitely play on Friday, but not 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 the Edwards kid intended to play. But if you trust the school to give you full transparency with a tournament berth on the line, it’s up to the NCAA to convey the message that this was the main reason they got in. What is SMU supposed to say? They weren’t going to imply that it would be ready for the second game, but not the first.
“If that was the case, it didn’t seem like the NCAA would have included them.”
Either way, hopefully the NCAA has learned a lesson from this ordeal.
And next time, I imagine the selection committee won’t trust an availability report from a team in the bubble, or a team looking to boost its tournament seeding.
