Notes from the West Virginia-Big12 Press Conference
By Ross
Chuck Neinas, Big 12 commissioner, opened up the press conference in Morgantown this afternoon. “It is a great day to be a Mountaineer,” he said to start it off. He then spoke about the success of West Virginia’s athletics over the years. He asked the president of WVU, James Clements, to come up to the podium. He gave the president the official agreement between WVU and the Big 12 along with a hat with the Big 12 logo.
James Clements put on the hat and raised his arms in celebration of joining the new conference. He took the mic and thanked Chuck Neinas to begin with. Clements spoke about how happy he and others were to join a “very strong, very vibrant” conference and that they were happy to join a conference with “great momentum going into the future”. He boasted about the academics of WVU, the fact that it is a land-grant university (which was mentioned several times), Morgantown being named the best college city, and being named the best college football town in America.
“We are very excited to be a member of the Big 12 and it seems the Big 12 is happy to have us,” stated Clements. He followed that statement by reading several letters and tweets from fans of Big 12 schools that he received. “The Big 12 has clearly given us a warm welcome.”
Clements then talked about the support and passion that the fans have for the Mountaineers. He introduced some leader of the Mountaineer Maniacs, the student fan club, to thank the Big 12 conference.
“I’m proud and honored to have accepted the invitation to join the Big 12 conference,” added the president. “We are ready to be a strong member and contender in the Big 12.” Clements then gave Chuck Neinas a small statue of a Mountaineer.
Clements ended by thanking the alumni for “the passion and commitment to Mountaineer Nation.”