Jay Bilas on Gregg Marshall: 'It never surprises me when Wichita State does the right thing'

When it comes to fighting for the rights of college athletes, ESPN's Jay Bilas has become the go-to national voice on the issue.

The lawyer-turned-analyst has been outspoken in criticizing the NCAA's rules and the programs that take advantage of what he thinks are one-sided rules that exploit student-athletes.

So what did Bilas think when he saw a rarity occur on Tuesday: a college coach (Wichita State's Gregg Marshall) put aside his self-interest and allowed an athlete (prized recruit Alex Lomax) a full release from his letter of intent so he could pursue a better fit?

"It never surprises me when Wichita State does the right thing because there are great people there," Bilas said by phone on Thursday.

"Wichita State did the right thing here, and more schools should follow suit because it's not really that hard."

Marshall could have complicated Lomax's path to Memphis and newly-hired coach Penny Hardaway, his mentor, by refusing to grant Lomax a full release from the letter of intent he signed with WSU last November since he intended to sign with an inner-conference team. That could have forced Lomax to sit out a year and play at a prep school.

Instead, Marshall said releasing Lomax completely was "the right thing to do at this time" in a statement on Tuesday. The decision drew universal praise from around the college basketball landscape and appreciation from Lomax.

"I just want to thank coach Marshall very much, and that meant a lot to me," Lomax texted the Eagle. "From all the coaches to the fans, I will always have love for Shocker Nation and everyone involved with it."

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein said, "This is a class move by Gregg Marshall and it speaks volumes about the character of he and Wichita State's entire program. He took the high road because there's less traffic and understands it wasn't worth getting into a whole back-and-forth."

NCAA rules would have permitted Lomax to attend Memphis for the 2018-19 season, regardless if he received a release from Marshall at Wichita State. But Lomax could only receive financial aid from Memphis if he received a release from Wichita State.

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish said Marshall's decision is a rare one in today's college basketball world.

"Not every coach would have done what Gregg did," Parrish told the Eagle. "He knows this is not ideal. They prioritized Alex Lomax and spent a lot of time recruiting Alex Lomax and passed on other point guards because of Alex Lomax. But he did the right thing and he did the smart thing."

Why was it the smart thing?

"Because the school trying to restrict the player never ends up keeping the player," Parrish explained. "And plus it ends up as a PR disaster for the school. So while this has turned into a bad basketball development for Wichita State, it turns into a great, positive story for Gregg Marshall and Wichita State because he comes off looking like a really reasonable guy."

So is Marshall's decision an exception or the start of a trend?

"No, I don't think this will change anything," Bilas said. "I still think schools are going to look at their own selfish interests."

But at least for Marshall, he found a way to take a negative situation and turn it into a positive one for the program.

"When Wichita State comes to Memphis and Marshall is introduced, I don't know if you have to give him a standing ovation, but man ... ," Parrish said. "He could have at the very least complicated this and he choose not to. I hope Memphis fans, I hope Penny, and I hope Alex Lomax all appreciate what he did."

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Jay Bilas on Gregg Marshall: 'It never surprises me when Wichita State does the right thing'."