Morrisey holds press conference condemning NCAA for excluding WVU from tournament

CHARLESTON, W.Va (WDTV) - Governor Patrick Morrisey held a press conference Monday afternoon condemning the NCAA for excluding West Virginia University’s men’s basketball team from the NCAA tournament.

While standing in front of a sign that says “National Corrupt Athletic Association,” Morrisey said their exclusion from the tournament was a “miscarriage of justice” and said he would “leave no stone unturned” in figuring out why.

Morrisey, who was joined by West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, said they are asking the NCAA to explain their selection process as objective or subjective and demanding transparency.

It is unclear at this time if any legal action will be forthcoming, as Morrisey said it was too early to decide.

McCuskey said WVU was in every single expert bracket projection leading up to Sunday’s selection show, making their snub difficult to understand.

“Given the major event that the tournament has become, all fans deserve to know how the selection committee makes its choices,” Attorney General McCuskey wrote in a letter to the NCAA. “Just for the teams, those criteria affect scheduling, lineup choices, and more. And as we look ahead to another season, these student-athletes deserve to know the rules of the game and what they might be up against.”

McCuskey said he is optimistic the NCAA will work with the state to provide some clarity about the decision to ensure the process is fair, trustworthy and transparent for all student-athletes and fans moving forward.

You can read McCuskey’s full letter here.

WVU Men’s Basketball Coach Darian Devries issued the following statement early Monday prior to Morrisey’s press conference:

“I want to reiterate what I said on Sunday that I am incredibly proud of this team and what they accomplished this season. One of our team goals was making the NCAA Tournament and we had a resume worthy of an NCAA Tournament selection. Our guys poured their hearts into this season and all their collective efforts into making the NCAA Tournament. I would like to thank all of Mountaineer Nation for their unwavering support of our team this season.”

West Virginia could have joined other postseason tournaments if they were invited - namely, the NIT or the newly created College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas.

But in a social media statement, Athletic Director Wren Baker confirmed that the team will not take part in those tournaments this year.

“As I said last night, we believe that we are an NCAA Tournament team and that our overall resume proved we were deserving of being selected to the field, and I am very disappointed for the young men in our basketball program. I am proud of our team and coaching staff for what they fought through and accomplished this season. After consulting with our team, we have decided not to participate in any other postseason tournaments and will direct our support to the current members of our program and our preparation for next year. I want to thank our entire men’s basketball program for the great memories they gave Mountaineer Nation this season and the foundation this group set for the future. I also want to thank our fans for their unwavering support. You are truly one of the great fan bases in all of college sports.”

Baker also said in a post Sunday that West Virginia’s exclusion was a “terrible travesty.”

WVU officials said that the governor’s office let them know a news conference was planned on the issue and that while the idea to request an investigation did not come from WVU, they are happy to cooperate.

The Mountaineers went 19-13 on the season, 10-10 in conference play, but suffered a dismal loss to Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Colorado, the #16 seed (worst in the conference), had won just 4 games from December 30 - March 11 prior to playing the Mountaineers. That loss seemed to propel West Virginia from firmly in the tournament to the bubble (although still in the tournament), according to most bracket experts nationwide.