Mark Wiedmer
It’s been a week. The emails and phone calls still stumble in, not many, but more than a few. “How ‘bout those Mocs?” some exclaim, referring to last Thursday’s National Invitational Tournament crown over California-Irvine. A few say, “Better than the Sweet 16 (of 1997).” A few more say, “Nice, but can’t compare to the Sweet 16 run.”
But this much is clear: Other than Florida fans understandably proud and giddy over Monday night’s stirring NCAA national championship win over Houston, no fan base in America has witnessed more feel-good moments the past month than Mocs Nation.
No one is saying that an NIT title in 2025 is remotely as significant as an NCAA tourney title. For years, N-I-T has stood for Nobody’s Interested Tournament unless you’re playing in the NIT.
But this needs to be considered too: More and more, mid-major college basketball programs such as UTC have zero, maybe less than zero, chance to win a men’s NCAA tournament title. The transfer portal and NIL deals have erased that. Forever. Or unless some sizable measure of common sense and fair play returns to college athletics.
Also, Florida and UTC's seasons ended on similarly stunning runs. The Gators won 18 of its last 19 games. The Mocs won 17 of their last 18.
But when you look at the increasing struggles for mid-majors, merely consider that Florida’s three-headed monster of a backcourt — the remarkable Walter Clayton Jr., Elijah Martin and — all came from smaller programs through the transfer portal. Clayton, a Florida native, previously played at Iona. Martin was formerly on the Florida Atlantic team that reached the Final Four two years ago. Will Richard, who scored 14 first-half points against Houston to keep the Gators close, previously played at Belmont.
The stark and troubling reality is that if you’re at UTC’s level and you’re lucky enough to sign a kid who’s talented enough to play in the SEC or Big Ten, you’re going to lose him after one year to a big boy able to pay him significant NIL money, which you can’t match.
It stinks. But it’s not going anywhere. The major conferences will make sure of that. So with that in mind, it’s becoming a little like college football, where the smaller schools compete in the Football Championship Subdivision while the big boys from the Power Four conferences play in the Football Bowl Subdivision, where player payrolls, such as Ohio State’s last year, can top $20 million a year.
Given that, and the shameless poaching being practiced by the Power Four and Big East regarding mid-majors, UTC’s NIT title may become the understandable goal of mid-majors the nation over.
Merely look at UTC guard Honor Huff, who took all of 24 hours after the NIT triumph to place his name in the transfer portal. You can’t blame him. After leading all of Division I in 3-point field goals made, he is sure to draw the attention of numerous schools in need of a long-range shooter. And there’s no way UTC can match the six-figure salary of $500,000 or more Huff is sure to fetch.
So while Huff loved his time at UTC — in his farewell post on social media he wrote, “I wouldn’t trade the time I have spent with y’all (Mocs Nation) for anything. This NIT championship represents what I love about the game and everything I have loved about being a Moc” — he also added, “It is in my best interest to enter my name into the transfer portal.”
Hopefully, a similar exit won’t soon be coming from UTC coach Dan Earl or rising sophomore big man Collin “Big Maple” Mulholland. Yet if it does, who can blame them?
With the NIT trophy in hand last week and a bit of reflection coming into focus, outgoing star Trey Bonham, the tournament MVP, had a chance to look back on his sensational UTC career.
“After the SoCon tournament (loss to Furman) I was pretty down on myself for not ever going to the NCAA tournament,” Bonham said. “I kind of felt like my career was a failure at that moment. But people around me quickly made sure that I knew we’ve still got basketball to play, and I can still be a champion in a different way.”
As college basketball begins its seven-month offseason — except for the transfer portal and NILdeals, of course — may Mocs Nation bask in the same glory as Florida’s Gators. UTC may indeed be a champion in a different way than the Gators. But champions the Mocs are of a national tournament, nonetheless.
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Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccallie.org