USC forward Chimezie Metu skipping NIT to protect draft stock

Skipping postseason play has come to college football, and USC forward Chimezie Metu is bring it to college hoops.

The USC Trojans were one of the notable snubs from this year’s NCAA Tournament, with ties to the FBI’s investigation into college basketball perhaps motivating the committee to leave them out. The NIT is obviously not nearly as relevant, and before their first round game Tuesday night coach Andy Enfield announced forward Chimezie Metu would be skipping the tournament.

The Trojans beat UNC-Asheville 103-98 in double overtime Tuesday night, without their leading scorer (15.7 points per game) and rebounder (7.4 per game). Enfield hinted that Metu may not play in the NIT on Monday, so the formal announcement was not all that surprising.

Metu is widely projected to be a late-first or early second-round pick in June’s NBA draft, which is perfectly reflected in ESPN ranking him No. 34 on their list of draft-eligible prospects. The line between being a first or second-round pick is very significant financially, so Metu does not want to risk an injury in inconsequential postseason games.

As a 6-foot-11, 225-pound big man with mobility and versatility on the defensive end, with some room to add weight and expand his game offensively (40 three-point attempts this season; three over his first two seasons at USC), Metu could showcase great potential in pre-draft workouts.

When LSU had eventual 2016 No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, perhaps driven by Simmons saying privately he would not play, a decision was made to skip the NIT entirely. Louisville wanted to do the same this year, after being on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but school officials overruled a vote by players.

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Metu is perfectly justified in having his eye on the NBA, and wanting to protect his chance to be a first-round pick. Anyone willing to paint him as a quitter who bailed on his USC teammates is not seeing the bigger picture.