October 31, 2011
A message from Kirk Schulz and John Currie
Good morning!
It has been a priority for us to keep our K-State alumni and friends up to date as much as possible on developments related to the Big 12 Conference and the national intercollegiate realignment scene.
Friday the Big 12 Conference took another significant step toward achieving long-term stability and maintaining our reputation as one of the top leagues in the country as West Virginia University has officially been accepted as the newest member of the Big 12 Conference, effective July 1, 2012. We are proud to welcome such a terrific university and athletics program to our league and look forward to furthering our relationships with the Mountaineer administration, coaches, student-athletes and fans.
With the addition of TCU to the conference earlier this month, the Big 12 has taken enormous and proactive steps in advancing a league that has already boasted 42 team national championships, 492 NCAA individual crowns and more than 3,700 All-America First Team accolades over the last 15 years. We continue to be excited about the days ahead.
West Virginia has a passionate fan base, is a respected academic institution with nationally-renowned programs and a very proud athletics tradition under the leadership of President James P. Clements and Athletics Director Oliver Luck. K-Staters are certainly familiar with the success of Mountaineer athletics, as former Wildcat coach Bob Huggins has continued to elevate its men’s basketball program on a national level, while the football team is one of just four programs in the nation to post nine or more wins in the past six seasons and the women’s basketball program has been a steady NCAA Tournament participant.
As a land-grant institution and the flagship university of the state, West Virginia shares many of the traits and values that make K-State such a special place and certainly will enhance the outreach of our league into new portions of the Northeastern United States with close proximity to major cities such as Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.
We appreciate the commitment and hard work of Interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas and the board of directors in providing stability and long-term viability to our league as we work together toward a very bright future.
Thank you for all that you do for K-State Athletics! Please join us in welcoming West Virginia to the Big 12 family.
Go Cats!
Kirk Schulz, President
John Currie, Director of Athletics