CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Patrick Morrisey and state Attorney General J.B. McCuskey say they want to get to the bottom of how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee chooses teams for the NCAA Tournament.
The two held a news conference Monday afternoon—–this after WVU was left out of the tournament. They were team 69. The tournament has 68 teams.
There was a sign on the front of the podium in the Governor’s Reception Room Monday that said, “National Corrupt Athletic Association.”
Morrisey said the non-selection doesn’t pass the smell test.
“West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels.” Morrisey said.
McCuskey said he’ll reach out to the NCAA in hopes of finding out how the selection decisions are made. He said it appears WVU did enough to get in including Quad 1 wins.
“If these are not the things they are looking for then we need to know what they are looking for,” McCuskey said. “The people of West Virginia are investing not just their emotion, not just their energy and not just their time into the Mountaineers but we are investing an enormous amount of the people’s money into these teams as well.”
Morrisey stopped short of saying the state would file a lawsuit to try and stop the tournament which begins Tuesday.
“I’m asking (the NCAA) to cooperate right away, provide that information to us, because we want to make sure everyone is educated before this process starts. Let’s not run into a dark corner. Let’s get the information to us right away and then we can follow-up with you,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey wondered out loud if WVU’s snub had anything to do with his fight along with some other state Attorneys General to get transfer rules liberated in the 2023 RaeQuan Battle case that eventually got the WVU transfer on the floor for the Mountaineers.
Morrisey also questioned University of North Carolina Bubba Thompson’s apparently having an incentive in his contract for tournament appearances by the Tar Heels. UNC was the last time in.
“I’ve asked Attorney General McCuskey to launch an investigation into the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to determine if any backroom deals, corruption, bribes or any nefarious activity occurred during the selection process,” Morrisey said.
McCuskey said WVU has had a good relationship over the years with the NCAA. He said the organization has done well in giving the university and its athletes a platform to display their skills. He said he’s hoping for good cooperation as part of his investigation.
‘It’s always best I think to start in a collaborative way and say, ‘Hey, if this didn’t happen why don’t you explain to us what did happen,’ because I think that explanation I think will solve a lot of our problems and if they are willing to do that I think we would certain welcome that to be the process going forward,” McCuskey said.
McCuskey said what he’s looking for is an objective understanding of what the process was and an objective understanding of what “our student athletes and our teams must be doing to get our teams into this next year.”
MetroNews has reached out to the NCAA for comment.
New statements
WVU Athletic Director Wren Baker and basketball coach Darian Devries put out new statements Monday afternoon about the non-selection.
Statements from Vice President/Director of Athletics Wren Baker and coach Darian DeVries. pic.twitter.com/YBYb3vPmSM
— WVU Men’s Basketball (@WVUhoops) March 17, 2025
Baker said the basketball program has decided to move forward without playing in the postseason. He said all of the efforts will now go into next season.
In his statement, Devries said he wants to thank Mountaineer Nation for its support for the team this past season.