For Cats' Carmody, NIT call comes better late than never

Here's a lesson (and a warning) for all you tournament committees out there:

If Northwestern coach Bill Carmody thinks you've disappointed him, he's going to strip and try to wash away his unhappiness in the shower.

At least, that's what Carmody intended to do Sunday night when he thought the NIT committee forgot about his Wildcats.

Shortly after the 8 p.m. selection show began, Carmody surrendered his hope and then his clothes.

“I went up, got naked, getting in the shower and I get the phone call,” Carmody said. “I said, ‘What?' I thought it was a joke because it was so late. And (athletic director) Jim (Phillips) told me they got an e-mail like 30 seconds before.

“It's never happened that way before. If you don't hear a half-hour before, then you're not in.”

Not only did Northwestern earn its third consecutive NIT bid, it received its first NIT home game since the March 16, 1994 win over DePaul at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats (18-13) host fifth-seeded Milwaukee (19-13) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The $20 tickets go on sale Monday morning for a game that won't be televised.

Senior point guard Juice Thompson did not disclose whether he was fully clothed when NU popped up on the ESPNU screen.

(The Wildcats didn't watch the selection show together because winter quarter finals begin Monday).

“Very excited,” Thompson said.

“Just happy to still be alive and still playing. Obviously, we wanted to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but the NIT is still a good tournament. It's a chance for us to win a championship.”

If Northwestern picks up its first postseason win in 17 years, it gets either Boston College or McNeese State.

The Eagles are one of the four top seeds, but they opted to play their opener at McNeese.

Alabama, Colorado and Virginia Tech received the other No. 1 seeds. Defending NIT champion Dayton picked up a 3 seed after making an unexpected run to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.