Stephen A. Smith rips West Virginia Governor amid March Madness snub
03/18/2025 02:40 PM
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is always known for expressing his opinions. His latest opinion is that West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, should stay out of the NCAA tournament selection process.
“Sit yo a** down,” Smith said on the ESPN show First Take Tuesday, and reported by Awful Announcing.
West Virginia basketball was the first team left out of the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It was a shocking revelation, as West Virginia was considered in in virtually every single bracketology projection. The program earned 19 total wins, including 6 Quad 1 victories.
West Virginia was snubbed for North Carolina, as well as three other “last four in” schools. In response, West Virginia governor Morrisey is launching an investigation into the NCAA. He’s directing his attorney general to investigate why WVU was left out.
"West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA tournament,” Morrisey said on Monday, per Yahoo Sports. “This is a miscarriage of justice, and robbery at the highest level."
Smith, along with First Take panelist Shannon Sharpe, blasted Morrisey for getting involved with an investigation. While Smith said West Virginia had a legitimate gripe, he said spending taxpayer money on an investigation is futile.
West Virginia basketball had reasons for feeling angry
West Virginia had a bounce-back year in 2024-25. The Mountaineers won 19 games in Coach Darien DeVries’ first season. The school had neutral floor wins over Gonzaga and Arizona, as well as a road win against Kansas. West Virginia also defeated Iowa State in Morgantown.
DeVries replaced Josh Eilert, who won 9 games as interim coach last season. Eilert was interim coach because the school had a tough ending with legendary coach Bob Huggins, who left the school before the 2023-24 season. Huggins was arrested for a DUI and parted ways with the school in a painful situation.
DeVries brought a lot of light back to Morgantown. It was seen that West Virginia basketball would return to March Madness, but the train veered off the track. West Virginia lost standout player Tucker DeVries to injury, who would miss the entire conference season.
The NCAA selection committee cited that injury as a reason why West Virginia didn’t make the tournament. But that wasn’t up to snuff for Morrisey.
Morrisey went on to accuse the NCAA selection committee of having bias against the Mountaineers. West Virginia’s governor helped lead a lawsuit against the NCAA in 2023, over player eligibility and transfer rules.
“Is this retribution? We’re gonna have to get to the bottom of that,” Morrisey said.
Time will tell what comes of this investigation. Smith may be watching closely.
The post Stephen A. Smith rips West Virginia Governor amid March Madness snub appeared first on ClutchPoints.
