“We will be filing, over the next month, and we’re going to make sure we time our filing to maximize the chance this case is going to be heard, and most importantly, that we will win,” Morrisey said.

“This is a significant case to bring to the Supreme Court, and it will potentially set precedent for the entire country.”

Last week, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked West Virginia’s 2021 ban on transgender students participating on sports teams that match their gender identity, because it violates federal law.

Appeals Judge Toby Heytens said the ban violated Title IX, after the American Civil Liberties Union brought the suit on behalf of eighth-grade trans teen Becky Pepper-Jackson.

“West Virginia’s transgender sports ban’s sole purpose — and its sole effect — is to prevent transgender girls from playing on girls teams,” Heytens wrote in his opinion on April 16. “Offering BPJ a ‘choice’ between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all.”

“Somehow, defying logic, the 4th Circuit majority still concluded that this law was targeted at transgender students. They are wrong,” Morrisey responded.

West Virginia became the seventh state in 2021 to pass a law, banning transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams under the Save Women’s Sports Act. It requires public schools and colleges to base sports participation on biological sex rather than gender identity. There are currently 24 states that have similar laws in place.

Fairness West Virginia said Wednesday that Morrisey’s statements about transgender youth create a hostile environment, allowing for more bullying and discrimination.

“Transgender women are women, period,” said Jack Jarvis, communications director for Fairness in West Virginia. “If you want to support women, you need to support all women.”

Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, host of the 2024 Big 12 Golf Championship, proved to be fertile ground for West Virginia golf to post their program-best team finish in tournament history.

After an impressive penultimate round, the Mountaineers finished one-over-par for the final round on Wednesday, setting their total for the tournament at five-over-par — good for a fifth-place finish out of the 14 teams competing.

Before this weekend, WVU had previously only managed a ninth-place finish in the tournament, which they achieved in 2023, 2021 and 2018 — the Big 12 was a ten-team league at the time. The Mountaineers’ best finish to par before this season was 24-over-par in 2019 when the Big 12 Championship was hosted inside West Virginia at The Greenbrier — they bested that total by nearly 20 strokes this week.

“This was the most impressive tournament of any during my time at West Virginia,” coach Sean Covich said. “Our postseason hopes were on the line in the biggest, most challenging tournament of the entire season and the guys got it done. Each one of these guys contributed to our top five finish, even those not in the lineup pushed our starters to play their best. Words can’t explain how proud I am of them and most of all, how happy I am for them.”

Junior Max Green led the way for WVU, finishing tied for 18th-place individually with a finish of two-over-par through 72 holes. Fellow junior three-over-par over the course of the tournament to secure a tie for 23rd place. Senior Jackson Davenport and junior Pierce Grieve also secured Top-40 finishes individually.

With both the early signing period and the initial days of the late one in the books, what are the primary needs for West Virginia as the program looks to fill out the 2024 roster?

The first transfer window closed, but another opened from April 16-30 while there also will be the possibility of graduate transfers entering at any time to provide even more options. West Virginia is expected to continue to be aggressive when it comes to filling out the roster.

Yes, there is the possibility of junior college or late high school options, but it is much more likely that the coaching staff places the emphasis on transfers.

The primary needs remain in the defensive backfield at both cornerback and safety for the program.

The Mountaineers were able to reel in a pair of cornerbacks in December in Colorado State transfer Ty Crandall and Duquesne transfer Ayden Garnes and then added another in February in Northwestern transfer Garnett Hollis. Still, the position is one that could continue to receive a look depending on what unfolds.

Finding safeties that can bounce around to fill multiple roles also remains a priority in order to sure up the secondary. The Mountaineers did add Northwestern transfer Jaheem Joseph in February but the program lost a pair of commitments there in Louisville transfer Josh Minkins and Old Dominion transfer Tahj Ra-El.

Still, expect that position to receive plenty of attention moving forward. And much like at cornerback, it’s realistic to expect at least one more addition there.

Expect West Virginia also to keep an open mind when it comes to possible additions with both young pass rushers and defensive linemen. The focus here is to continue cultivating depth and avoid a situation where the program constantly recruits new one-year options there every off-season. These don’t have to necessarily be immediate impact options, just ones that fit and have multiple years left.

On offense, the coaching staff will continue to be more selective overall and are only looking at the possibility of even adding to a few of the rooms on the roster.

One of those is wide receiver, where the program could still use some veteran depth. Even with the addition of Oklahoma State transfer Jaden Bray the coaching staff could still explore the possibility of adding more.

The same can be said at tight end as the coaching staff has discussed possibly adding another multi-year option to that room but that is expected to be something the staff discusses in the coming weeks.

The final spot would be offensive line but given the addition of Jacksonville State transfer Xavier Bausley that likely isn’t as necessary as some of the spots on defense. The coaching staff likes the current makeup of that position room and believes that while the right fit could change that, overall, the Mountaineers have done a good job building that room up over the years.

West Virginia has been aggressive to date when it comes to mining the portal and you can expect that to continue as the coaches look to fill out the roster with both immediate and long-term options.