MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University Board of Governors met Friday morning and made a major verbal commitment to athletics.
The board passed a resolution that directs athletic leadership and the university to develop a plan that would position WVU athletics in the top funding tier among Big 12 institutions.
While working to get into the top tier of funding, the resolution says the plan will “strengthen the university’s paramount core academic mission.”
The resolution states that athletics personnel will be in “regular collaboration” with the WVU Board and will then present the full plan to the board at its February 2026 meeting.
BOG Chair Rusty Hutson says the landscape of college athletics is always changing, but university leadership can be consistent in a new level of commitment to athletics going forward.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that college athletics is going through a major transition, and I don’t know if it will ever really end,” Hutson said in a Friday board meeting. “I think we’re going to see this continue. It’s going to be something new year after year.”
“The world is going to change consistently, but what we have to do is be consistent in our approach and our support of the athletics that we have at the university. With that support is financial support,” he continued.
In July, a landmark settlement made way for Division I athletic departments to directly compensate student athletes. For the 2025-2026 2026 academic year, the revenue sharing cap is set at $20.5 million per school. WVU and other Power 4 schools will be tasked with coming up with the funds on a yearly basis to share with the athletes.
“They need support to do that. They can’t do that unless the university as a whole is on board,” said retired MetroNews “Talkline” host Hoppy Kercheval. “I think it’s really important this unanimous vote came today by the Board of Governors that essentially says, ‘We’re behind you. We support you. We’re in total agreement with what Wren Baker is trying to do at the athletic department.”
Another uncertainty among college athletics is conference realignment. In the last two years, the Pac 12, a former “power” conference, folded when large schools like USC, UCLA, and Oregon took off for the Big 10.
Hutson says Power 4 conferences for football and basketball may not be the same in the next few years, so WVU needs to be ready.
“We know that there’s going to be more changes. There’s going to be more conference realignment coming down the pipe, and we want to be prepared. The only way we’re going to be prepared is if we financially support the vision of the president and the athletic director and the board,” he said.
Baker, who’s been the head of the athletic department since 2022, has said in the past that athletics aren’t the most important thing that happens on a campus, but they are the most visible.
Hutson, today, echoed a similar sentiment to the board.
“It’s very important because I think everyone on this board would recognize that athletics is the door to the university in some ways. It’s what people outside of the state of West Virginia see. They see us competing on TV and different sports,” Huston said.