"Pathetic excuse for an apology" "Should sue for emotional distress": College hoops fans slam NIT committee following South Alabama invitation blunder

South Alabama coach Richie Riley blasted the NIT for how they handled the Jaguars' invitation being pulled from the tournament. The coach took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday to express his frustration after he informed his team they were going to the NIT, only to have the invitation rescinded.

The NIT issued an apology to South Alabama, saying one of the teams they initially invited to the tournament, UC Riverside, had a prior commitment to play in the College Basketball Invitational. However, the Highlanders then backed out of that agreement to accept the NIT bid, and consequently, they had to uninvite the Jaguars to make room.

"A meaningless apology to the most meaningful group of players I’ve ever coached! What they did to us last night is inexcusable!" Riley called the NIT's statement. "These guys in our locker room don’t deserve this and it’s sad your idea of making it right is a copy and paste apology!"

Many college basketball fans rallied behind South Alabama, slamming the committee for the blunder and how the situation was handled.

"Pathetic excuse for an apology," one fan wrote.

"Team should sue for emotional distress," another added.

"Yall deserve better then this and the other team that said they wouldn’t play shouldn’t get to just come back and take your teams spot now. Bad decision by NIT," a fan stated.

"Absolutely ridiculous, Coach. Your men earned that and wanted it," one user commented.

"@NITMBB have some shame," another wrote.

"@NITMBB you gotta fix this, give them a play in game with another team," one fan suggested.

Richie Riley guides South Alabama to its first conference title in 17 years

In his seventh season as South Alabama's head coach, Richie Riley led the Jaguars to their first regular-season conference title in almost two decades.

Four teams — James Madison, Troy, Arkansas State and the Jaguars — finished with an identical 13-5 record in the Sun Belt Conference and earned a share of the championship. Riley's men lost the conference tournament after falling to Arkansas State in the semifinals, missing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The last time South Alabama made the March Madness field was in 2008 under then-coach Ronnie Arrow. However, this season marks the Jaguars' most successful campaign in almost a generation, thanks in large part to Riley, who was named the 2025 Sun Belt Coach of the Year. They are ranked 123rd nationally in the final NCAA NET rankings.